LINKDING

Summary: Cang Qiong Mountain Sect AU - no Binghe and no Shen Yuan, just the original sect siblings being fundamentally dysfunctional without any outside help. “Shidi.” Yue Qingyuan breathed. He would burn cities for him. Only he never did. Yue Qingyuan makes the mistake of inviting Shen Jiu back to his house for tea. Tea and emotional torture. Nothing is said. Nothing will ever be said. ➤ hello I am murdered by how on point this fic is, it's perfect and I adore it ➤ svsss au qijiu fic from og!sqq's pov ➤ (trans sqq, for those to whom that's enticement!) ➤ no lbh or transmigration, so the complex relationships between the various peak lords keep marinating over decades ➤ I love how the vibes are so much older, more grounded and more ground down at the same time. and still sqq and yqy are full of all their Problems ➤ I loved the evolving beliefs sqq had about what must have happened to fill yqy with endless guilt towards him! ➤ and the ways sqq treats yqy, before and after the reveals...how things do & don't change ➤ and the beautiful physicality the narrative has in details like the tea, and the hair, and how both yqy & sqq use clothing to hide things about their bodies they don't want noticed ➤ and of course the sharply perceived characterisation! ➤ LOVED IT ➤ 23k words

Summary: The Institute of Religious Studies was housed in one of the oldest structures at the university, an ornate hipped-roof building that overlooked the campus from the foot of the northern peaks. Aside from the narrow drive that wound up the rise from the other side of campus, the only access was via a steep staircase or a switchbacked path that took twenty minutes to ascend. Most people on campus called it the Mountain. ➤ songxuexiao t4t4t modern au where they're grad students in china ➤ I had the pleasure of getting to see this fic as it came together, and the thought and care verity puts into their writing is always so evident in their beautifully written and beautifully constructed stories! ➤ from song lan's pov as he watches creepy stalker xue yang entwine herself into his bff (and object of pining) xiao xingchen's life ➤ sl DOESN'T trust xy, he DOES find it super hot to put her in her place and have sex with her, he DOES struggle to be fully vulnerable with xxc despite everything she is to him ➤ the vibes are so good, I love how real and present each character and their complex emotions about each other are, and I love the way the theme of the weather runs through the whole fic holding things together ➤ highly recommend! ➤ 12k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Even from the bar's parking lot, Lan Wangji could feel the presence of the spirits inside. This place was haunted. There was evidence of demonic cultivation everywhere from the wards to Wei Wuxian's bed. Lest he crawl back into it, Lan Wangji unsheathed Bichen and climbed on.</blockquote> ➤ mdzs wangxian modern-with-cultivation au where lwj is a trans man and wwx is a trans woman ➤ and ahhhh it just makes me so emotional about how GREAT wangxian are!!! ➤ wonderfully integrated characters/plot into a world they inhabit where friends and work and weird tastes in books are part of their lives, and also, lwj and wwx find each other and are immediately obsessed with each other, finding something in each other that allow them to best be themselves ➤ so many very funny details also, at the same time that it's many feelings ➤ 10k words in length

summary: <blockquote>It was a gusty night in the hills as young lady Shi approached the scholar Ming’s estate. </blockquote> ➤ hello impeccable gothic vibes beefleaf ➤ also, doing great things with gender. also, contains MUFFING. (thank u Fucking Trans Women for teaching me about muffing) ➤ this is so beefleaf. I love them both so much <3 ➤ 2k words in length ➤ blood-drinking but not vampires

summary: <blockquote>The Nie-furen Jin Guangshan could have invented out of her would have haunted these hallways; sometimes the universe slyly hands Meng Yao what he has not paid or begged for but what he deserves.</blockquote> ➤ a look at trans man meng yao and his experience of his gender, and nie huaisang experimenting with transfemininity ➤ a beautiful look at the complexities of identity, the precarity of position, and the connection between jgy and nhs ➤ 1k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>He watches her that night, like he hasn’t done in months, a specter outside her bedroom window, a breeze in the dark night. Her things are, as always, scattered around her bed where she dropped them upon falling asleep. He can’t help but take notice that the fan is in a place of pride, tacked up on the wall next to polaroid pictures of — he realizes with a start — the two of them. He remembers her taking the pictures, shoving that too-big retro camera in his face and squishing the two of them together tight enough that He Xuan’s cheek brushed against hers. He shakes the memory off and watches her sleep, her chest slowly rising and falling with each inhale and exhale.</blockquote> ➤ beefleaf modern reincarnation! reincarnation isn't usually my thing but I liked how it was handled here ➤ he xuan has not developed any more chill over the years between when sqx dies and when sqx is finally reincarnated ➤ he xuan's pov is very fun. the drama! the pathos! meanwhile sqx is clearly just having a nice time bonding with he-jie. beefleaf always about contrasts :) ➤ I believe in u, he xuan! you can do it! have an actual relationship with sqx!! ➤ also the gender stuff is great. ➤ 6k words in length ➤ thanks to roland for the rec!

Summary: <blockquote>Jin Ling didn't mean to commit zine fraud. Surely you get a free pass if you didn't know how taxes work?!</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>"Don't fuck your ex," Pei Ming said when Shi Qingxuan told him that she'd been cast in the Broadway debut of Heaven Official's Blessing.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>Despite, well, all the bad parts, Mo Ran's new apartment's got some perks: the size of it—enough to fit a whole family; the proximity to his job—no more getting home from work way past 1 AM; and his neighbor—65, bitchy, surprisingly kind, slim waist hidden under all those hideous clothes, insanely flexible-- Yeah, Mo Ran likes his new place just fine.</blockquote>

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

Summary: <blockquote>"See, it's a fair trade," Wei Wuxian said, outlining the situation. "You get a wife! That's me! And Xuanyu can have a husband." Lan Wangji looked at the screen separating him from the bathtub. "In your proposition, you also have a husband."</blockquote>

<blockquote>Fifteen years ago, definitely cishet man Shen Yuan transmigrated into Shen Qingqiu, the female villain of reverse harem novel Proud Immortal Demon Way, and never looked back. Now happily lesbian-married, Shen Qingqiu gets caught in a PIDW plot that makes her actually confront what she wants from her gender and her relationship.</blockquote>

<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>Mobei Jun and Shang Qinghua fit together like a 3D puzzle: with a lot of missteps, rearranging, and precision. Too bad their friends are, like, really bad at spatial reasoning. OR: 5 times no one realized moshang were together, and one time it was too obvious to miss</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shen Qingqiu stares down at his chest. Huh. So it's that kind of wife plot. He feels a little strange, but that's probably because he has... ahem. Well. He tugs his robes closed. They don't quite fit right.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“She’s read more books than me! She’s told me that gender is a performance so many times. She knows theory words for things and she watches all those YouTube essays. Why is it a surprise to her that all of this stuff is work? None of it is natural or fun.” “None of it?” Wen Qing asks, her tone suspiciously neutral. Yanli narrows her eyes. “What are you saying?” Wen Qing’s eyes shift to the right, avoiding Yanli’s stare. “I guess I think some of it is fun.” Yanli sits back in her seat. “Huh.”</blockquote> ➤ ahhhhh t4t jyl/jzx is so good, and it's so believable the relationship jyl has with gender here!

<blockquote>✈️: i mean it's already My Brand for really good dick to change people ✈️: maybe mobei's meat popsicle awakens something in him 🥒: i hate you so much.</blockquote>

<blockquote>You are the young wife of Sect Leader Wen, and you're on the verge of discovering something important. About your husband, yes, but also about yourself.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe are happily married, and no one is more surprised about it than Shen Qingqiu. Not that he’s not pleased with it! He is, is fact, quite pleased. Happy, one might say. Marital bliss, etc etc. But in terms of consistency, he just… really assumed that the protagonist was straight. All those women, seduced and bedded; wasn’t Binghe quite the ladykiller in the original? It just doesn’t seem logical that he would fall in love with anyone but a woman. Ah, but these are the mysteries of the universe. How strange, that the protagonist ended up with a man... unless...? (Postcanon, bingqiu discover they are both lesbians)</blockquote> ➤ oh my god sqq

<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

Summary: <blockquote>Talking at someone is only fun for so long. That's all being a sect leader is: talking and talking to people bound by courtesy to listen to you. It's so fucking dull. A relief, then, to face one’s equal, and no less an old friend who is inclined to interrupt you whenever you ramble. He likes it. It’s one of Jiang Cheng’s best qualities. In the years after Guanyin Temple, Nie Huaisang attends to unfinished business.</blockquote> ➤ REALLY GOOD, but I tore through the majority of the fic when it was only nearly done, and then waited for the conclusion to be posted, and that created a feeling of very uneven pacing because of how I read it and so the ending felt more distant for me. I think if I'd read it all in one go I would think it was ALL great though!

<blockquote>"I'm so tired," Wei Ying complains, tossing his hand down instead of Going Fish for the sixteenth time this game alone. "I can't even remember who's said what and now I'm losing, like, the easiest card game in existence." He looks tired, too. The spaces under his eyes are sunken, a bruised purple under skin that looks thin and stretched-out to the touch. Fragile. He's looked exhausted for days now, but even when they're curled up on the couch together, Wei Ying's head in Jiang Yanli's lap, humming an unrecognizable tune softly as she strokes his hair, he doesn't sleep.</blockquote> ➤ wwx going to his sister for a safe place when he's in a bad place with depression

<blockquote>Millennial vs Gen Z? Shen Qingqiu wishes. A young transmigrator has a new idol; Shen Qingqiu is very tired.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian locks his phone and puts it down, blinks at his ceiling, and picks it up again. The pictures are still there. His first thought is that Lan Zhan meant them for someone else. That he just woke up at—he checks the timestamp—6:30 am on a Sunday and decided to go absolute full nuclear seduction option on some poor boy he met on Grindr, who would now be missing out on the best thing to ever happen to him because Wei Wuxian had a bad habit of distracting—of—oh. Pieces of last night start to resurface and paste themselves together in his head. He winces.</blockquote>

<blockquote>On a job, Lan Wangji gets hit with one of those pesky genital-rearranging spells. You'll never believe what happens next!</blockquote> ➤ lwj is a trans man who gets spelled to have a dick ➤ also they're public cultivators a la firefighters which honestly I love, more modern au's should do this

<blockquote>“I didn't even notice at first,” Wei Wuxian said, "Maybe if I'd had to pee as often then as I do now, but we had a lot going on."</blockquote>

<blockquote>On a station orbiting Uranus, an experimental craft is being constructed, capable of braving the harsh atmosphere and landing on the planet's surface. Lucky and Bigman are tasked with escorting the pilot there safely, unaware that what sounds like a simple and enjoyable mission soon will take a dark turn.</blockquote> ➤ feels very in keeping with the tone and style of the original books, only with added awareness of gender stuff

<blockquote>Warlock goes back to Tadfield when she's twenty-four.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It turns out that having the right name and piles of cold hard cash means you can buy almost anything. Happiness, however, isn’t for sale, but Daphne is lucky enough to know the recipe.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Laurence is happy in Scotland, happy with Tharkay and Temeraire and their new life. Mostly.</blockquote>