LINKDING

summary: He Xuan has little money, no stable job, an eating disorder, and a great deal of resentment at the way their life has fallen apart. Shi Qingxuan, whom they met on an online eating disorder community, is also going through a challenging time. Perhaps it is good, then, that they have each other to depend on. ➜ beefleaf modern au ➜ sqx and hx, their respective struggles with eating disorders, and the relationship they have with each other ➜ told in a really cool non-traditional way, largely through the digital records hx keeps -- texts with sqx, web searches, youtube history, to do lists, notes to self, etc ➜ I love how the form allows this really great window into hx's state of mind, with a sort of spareness that packs a big punch ➜ and the translation to the modern context of the beefleaf relationship pre-black-water-arc is so good! ➜ what a good. I'm so impressed! ➜ 7k words long

excerpt: Fig. 1. Gold coin, 356 P.F. (post-foundation). Obverse: profile of Auréle, right-facing. Legend: REGENT ETERNAL. Reverse: Tree, fruiting (symbolizing prosperity). This five-sorel piece is in fine condition. The design is sophisticated, improving upon the bronze Auréles minted throughout the 340s. Trees were a common peacetime motif and recur in coinage from Auréle’s accession in 339 onwards. They cut off Auréle’s head and they put it on a pike above the city’s third best bridge. To me, that seemed a shame. I had only just got his nose right. // ➜ SFF short story telling of a year of political upheaval through the eyes of someone who works in the minting of coins ➜ and through the coins' archaeological analysis, in the far future ➜ I love this double-vision on events, what the historians can and can't know through the coins, and the struggles and lives of the people who were just trying to get through those times, the desperation and the personhood ➜ 3.6k words

<blockquote>Hi, we were both in Central Square on Friday, around 9:30 PM. I’m a tall trans lady with brown hair and glasses. You were standing in front of Sonia with some people. You were looking at your phone and then you looked up at me. Our eyes met for—I’m sorry, I’ve deleted and retyped this a couple times. Our eyes probably met for like a second, from your perspective. Several years ago I stayed at this inn where the innkeeper was this wizened old woman (I know that sounds dopey, but if you saw her you’d be like, “no she’s totally wizened”—serious crone hours in that inn), and I can’t really tell if I upset the old woman or if I did her some kind of favor? She was very hard to understand. Anyway, I have this curse now.</blockquote> ➤ beautiful and interesting

<blockquote>Today on our program we’re bringing you a three act investigation into a true Chicago legend. It’s a larger-than-life tale of murder, exile, culture shock, and the incredible power of human kindness as we ask the question: did Chicago have its own Canadian superhero in the ‘90s? The answer may surprise you. From WBEZ Chicago, it’s This American Life.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Twelve excerpts from Teixcalaan and from Lsel Station.</blockquote> ➤ every time I read a fic like this, composed of excerpts from various documents, I think to myself that I really need a tag for that but can never come up with one I'm happy with or remember what I've used in the past. SIGH. Anyway this is a truly excellent specimen of the genre!

<blockquote>CROWLEY: I try not to make a habit of gratitude, but I must give our appreciation to everyone out there who’s been listening and subscribing to The Ineffable Plan. AZIRAPHALE: Ooh, yes, we’ve become quite popular, haven’t we? CROWLEY: Yeah, just hit number eight on the advice charts … No advertising at all. AZIRAPHALE: Mm. How … miraculous. CROWLEY: … Aziraphale. You did not. / Crowley and Aziraphale are very possibly the people least qualified, on the entire planet, to start up an advice podcast. But what else is there to do when the world isn’t ending anytime soon, you’re technically on indefinite sabbatical from your lifelong careers, and you need a plausible excuse to spend more time with your best friend who you’re definitely not, absolutely not, maybe just a little, actually maybe overwhelmingly in love with?</blockquote>

<blockquote>Pop-star uber-sensation Jaim Janan rockets off to promote their third album atop a SpaceX Dragon VII capsule today, where they will stream a live musical performance from orbit, some 350 kilometers above the Earth. Before today’s launch, when asked if they were feeling nervous about the trip, the young pop star coolly responded, “Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain’t goin’ away.” It’s not clear how many of Jaim’s obsessive fans, or “Janatics” as they are sometimes known, recognized the star was quoting twentieth-century pop legend Elvis Presley [click for bio]. But by mid-afternoon #TruthIsLikeTheSun was the most popular hashtag on Twitter. —Naydeen Johnson for The Washington Post</blockquote>

<blockquote>Katherine Climpson explores the documentation of an unusual example of medieval matrimony.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The night she left to follow the King, it wasn't raining or anything like that.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wherefore art thou, Romeo? New York Magazine March 13, 2045 Let’s get the obvious out of the way: yes, in Broadway’s latest iteration of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo is an alien. And no, that doesn’t necessarily make it worth the ticket price.</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>The otome community uncovers the mysteries of the Nikiforov-Katsuki Route, one of the most difficult and overly-complicated routes in a game supposedly just about ice skating. mysticdabber okay so I've literally conquered every other route on this damn game but yuuri keeps flat out rejecting me?? I've hit like 7 different Friend routes 50 times?? What does he want?? How high are his standards?? I'VE DONE EVERYTHING FOR YOU YUURI ALL I WANT IS YOUR HEART</blockquote> ➤ the one where yuri on ice is a dating sim.

<blockquote>The Mars Light began as a ten-minute short that Bryan Sebold made without a crew after wrapping his Google fantasy series Anvil of the Sun. Now it’s a five-part documentary, which NASA Films released today online and in select theaters. Mr. Sebold spoke with me via Skype about shooting remotely on Mars; about working with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which runs the Mars Rover project for NASA; and about what the Mars Light is, which the documentary reveals for the first time. </blockquote>

<blockquote>This is a food blog, not a disease blog, but of course the rumors all over about bird flu are making me nervous. I don’t know about you, but I deal with anxiety by cooking. </blockquote> ➤ the chronicles of a family dealing with an epidemic as told through a food blog. This worked REALLY WELL and by the end I was SO ATTACHED to everyone in the story and ughghgh I hope everything does work out for them in the end

<blockquote>Darcy I have strong opinions Liza Benítez Nope, you are mean. Darcy I’m sure my dedication to giving you feedback is terribly offensive Liza Benítez well one day I’ll figure out your motives Darcy Will you now?</blockquote> ➤ oh no how does this au work SO WELL. It continues a little past the point where it needs to, where it's just pointless relationship fluff, but it's just YEAH.

<blockquote>Written during Wimbledon 2011: Rudy, contender for the Wimbledon trophy, baffles the BBC commentators.</blockquote>

<blockquote>cockrocker08324: heh heh sounds like somebody's a little into the story Jedi_Master_Rasputin: Am not. Jedi_Master_Rasputin: I just thought you'd want to tell it. Jedi_Master_Rasputin: Save you from telling it in the dining hall or something. cockrocker08324: ha ha i don't belieeeeeeeeeve you</blockquote>

<blockquote>The cast and crew of Horrible Histories CBBC takes the piss out of Gay and Lesbian history. Sketches include: “Internatyonal Man of Myfterie”, “The Lesbians who Don’t Do Anything”, “Henry Bollingbroke Doesn’t Like Dick”, and three new Savage Songs!</blockquote>

<blockquote>What it says on the tin.</blockquote>

➤ the Doctor writes Dumbledore/Grindelwald fixit fic. The Master disapproves of the Doctor's ending.

➤ The story of Ray's aborted college attempt, via his academic advisor's records of him. ➤ The unusual format is very well done

<blockquote>Network Command Final Examination Paper IV: General Knowledge Candidates must answer ALL QUESTIONS in Section A and AT LEAST THREE QUESTIONS from Section B</blockquote> ➤ (question/answer #4 is particularly good)

available on the wayback machine <blockquote>Nell Gabrielli: They tell me I’ve saved nearly two hundred people’s lives already, and helped almost five hundred more. (Pauses.) That’s important. That’s real important. Richard Forrest, Medical Ethicist: Ms. Gabrielli is a prisoner of the medical system, plain and simple. What’s been done to her is a travesty. And the fact that she was convinced to consent to it only makes it worse.</blockquote>