LINKDING

Summary: Martin Pale learns from Catherine of Winchester, several centuries too late. ➜ a yuletide fic, for Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ➜ About the tudor-era magician Martin Pale and his relationship with his tutor, Catherine of Winchester, from the golden age of magic ➜ gosh wow I am just -- so blown away by this?! it feels like it fits so perfectly into the interstices of canon. The undeniable weight of reality that the whole piece has, even as it is shot through with shards of the numinous....the characters all being people who are difficult, and real, and not altogether pleasant, but you love them for how real they are. ➜ Pale and Catherine are so different from each other, yet so connected, and though we get to hear much of Pale's life, Catherine remains as mysterious to us as she is to Pale. And yet we know her from who she is. ➜ idk, idk, I'm not sure how to explain this better! I just....really recommend reading this fic. it is so satisfying. ➜ 16k words

Summary: Ling Wen wakes up in Hua Cheng's bed. ➤ omg I am LIVING, someone wrote me so many words of ling wen fic wherein post-canon ling wen bodyswaps with xie lian ➤ the ling wen pov in this fic is sooooo good, her pragmatic approach to dealing with whatever happens in her life, her disinterest in attending to her emotions, her independence and unwillingness to rely on anyone who isn't her ➤ and seeing xie lian and hua cheng through ling wen's eyes is so good too!! ➤ there are so many fun character relationship dynamics, connected with a really fun premise, and I loved it all ➤ 8k words in length

quote: Andrew was convinced the writer had been trans. By this point his friends were tired of hearing about it, but he had no one else to tell besides the internet, and he was too smart for that. That would be asking for it. ➤ short story about a trans man who's obsessed with the m/m novels of a dead historical novelist who he's convinced was trans ➤ and about the dreams he has where he meets her and talks with her ➤ it's a story that feels unsatisfying but like, in a satisfying way? ➤ idk how to explain! it makes me want to reread it 3 more times and think about the way one's relationship with oneself is mediated through the stories one reads and loves ➤ it's really good ➤ 6k words in length

Summary: “How could you let him?” she asked abruptly. It came out—menacing. Her own voice hadn’t been capable of conveying anger like that. If she’d tried very hard to rage, it would have been shrill and unimpressive, and if she’d spoken the way she’d tried to just now, it might have chilled the right room but it would still have sounded gentle. A-Cheng’s voice had no softness in it, and both boys went very still. ➤ mdzs/cql canon divergence au, where instead of mxy sacrificing himself to resurrect wwx, jc sacrifices himself to resurrect jyl ➤ jyl and wn and mxy eat soup together about it ➤ and jyl grapples with how she feels about everything that happened. and what she's going to do next ➤ and like. DANG I love it!!! ➤ 5k words in length

summary: <blockquote>“If you died,” Huaisang started, not knowing quite where he was going with this. “I mean, you did die, da-ge, but if someone had killed you… what would you want to happen next?” / In the wake of Nie Mingjue’s death, Nie Huaisang realises how much he’s been left in ignorance. How could the artsy little brother be left to run their ancestral asteroid-mining clan? What other secrets are hidden in his san-ge’s past? And how should he get revenge? Maybe having da-ge’s personality backed up on a server was supposed to help with all this. Maybe.</blockquote> ➤ mdzs space au about nie huaisang and his years-long project in avenging his da-ge ➤ a repeated theme throughout the fic is nhs visiting and talking to back-ups that had been taken of nmj's personality before death, and the way that this makes literal how HAUNTED nhs is by his brother's absence is just sooooooo good ➤ the worldbuilding is great, the things that are changed from canon due to this different context are great, the anguish and monofocus of nhs are great ➤ I AM ALL EMOTIONS ;_; ➤ 8k words in length

summary: <blockquote>When news reaches Qing Jing Peak of Luo Binghe’s ascension as the undisputed sect leader of Huan Hua Palace, Ming Fan seethes and Ning Yingying mourns.</blockquote> ➤ svsss gen fic about ning yingying and ming fan, reacting to the news about luo binghe becoming the sect leader of huan hua ➤ nyy and mf only know what they've seen, and their shizun is dead and luo binghe is behaving as if he has no love or loyalty left in him ➤ oof this is so GOOD, I had emotions at the end!!! ➤ 2k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>When you were young, Mama sent you away from the land of the dead and told you not to look back. You remember the grey skirts they passed out at the border. Long lines like sinew, and waiting in them. The dark cavern sky of Asphodel. Sometimes the wind brought the honeyed scent of Elysian apples. But that is where heroes go, so you had to stay in line.</blockquote> ➤ about grief and loss; losing a parent young, and losing access to that parent's culture and language; and about holding on to what things you can ➤ the story isn't specific about exactly what happened in the disaster when the main character was a young child but the hints are enough to be pretty dark ➤ beautiful, longing, sharp and bittersweet ➤ second person pov ➤ 1k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Ojoa and I had to keep Dr. Brinsen happy, because he was going to save the world. Under his leadership, Matora Facility had been tasked with ending the deadly outbreak that had earned our planet the designation of failed colony in the Interstellar feeds. Immunodeficiency was common on terraformed worlds, but novel pathogens rarely survived the medical regimens that kept colonists safe. Our virus, the exception, had killed thousands and put an end to off-world transit. Compared with the work of developing a cure, Ojoa’s projects were fanciful distractions. I was a distraction.</blockquote> ➤ an original story about AI personhood, and about the bond between one AI who is different from the others, and their bond with a human who is different from other humans ➤ it's also about the difficulties of caregiving during a pandemic, and the toll it takes ➤ a beautiful, quiet, tender story about finding where you belong, no matter what others think ➤ and ultimately, in my read, about a neurodivergent robot and a queerplatonic relationship, which like. AS ALWAYS, TAKE ME TO THERE. I'm here for it. ➤ 6k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>all I really want is some peace, man</blockquote> ➤ author's note: "doomed best friends who understand each other so deeply" ➤ an Untamed vid about Wei Wuxian & Wen Qing ➤ ahhhhhh I have SO MANY feels about them and this vid GETS them ➤ ouchy in the best way ➤ audio is solely the music ➤ no subtitles ➤ 4:41 in length ➤ thanks to lesbianwangyibo for the rec!

Summary: <blockquote>Maribel heard but did not see when the new pig-boy was named. She never went down into the village of San Rafael if she could help it. But she couldn’t miss the wailing lament of the village mothers echoing from the church courtyard, a wrenching sound, though traditional and expected. It made Maribel shiver despite the heat. It had only been a month, Only a month without a pig-boy. But she should have known that the new one would have to be named soon. The sun was retreating, the nights getting longer, and that meant the high season for pilgrims was coming.</blockquote> ➤ in a village where people possessed by demons are turned into javelinas, cared for by a pig-boy for the rest of their lives, what happens when the new pig-boy has a little too much empathy for his charges? ➤ excellent use of fantasy alternate world to engage with questions of the failures of the justice system and the penal system, and the ways people become complicit with the system ➤ really well done pov character ➤ 5k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>The far stall in the ladies room in the Land of the Dead was backed up again. The day had already started terribly, with an email that hit my phone as I walked the 387 steps from my staff cabin to the front desk, an email from Lana saying Vera, I wanted you to find out directly from me that I’ve started seeing somebody. Call if you want to talk.</blockquote> ➤ about queer intergenerational friendship and mentorship, about being a young adult trying to find your place, about death and what it means to you, about living through the death of all your peers and coming out the other side, about hope and love and making connections. ➤ holy shit this gave me so many emotions. READ IT READ IT READ IT. ➤ also I adore the title. pinsker writes great titles. ➤ 6k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>The truth was they had been friends. Three months is a long time to spend with someone, day after day, sharing meals and weary hours. At the time, Jiang Cheng really didn’t have anyone else and neither did Lan Wangji. It wasn’t only the search that bound them, but the desperation as well: that there might be some mercy in the world left for the two of them. That out of everyone else they’d lost, Wei Wuxian at least should live.</blockquote> ➤ exploring the relationship between Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji; the three months of almost-friendship when they were searching for Wei Wuxian together, and then the many years of hatred that followed ➤ and yet lwj saves jc's life when he's injured in a night hunt. but they still hate each other. ➤ the deep well of bitterness on both sides, as both feel fully justified in their hate! god it's so good. the vibes in this fic are impeccable. ➤ 2k words in length ➤ thanks by-lookitmychicken for the rec!

Summary: <blockquote>According to the ways, when the head of a household passed away, his womenfolk had to refrain from lifting their feet in dance and their voices in song until the moon cast its full light down for the third time. During that interval, which, to be clear, could be three months, the mourners remained cloistered in their home and performed ritual ablutions to cleanse themselves of death, while their family and friends slowly entombed them within walls of food containers and condolence cards. When her mom asked Oona to join her in observing this ancient duty, Oona said nah. The explosion that followed was totally understandable, but through it all Oona remained immovable and flippant.</blockquote> ➤ about the difficulties of being a teen girl whose dad just died, and who is trying to figure out her identity as an othered visible minority, with a large and close-knit multigenerational family whose older generations are more connected with traditional culture and who want her to be too ➤ the traditional culture is selkies ➤ yeah it's a GREAT premise and I love how carefully and believably the selkie culture is imagined, and what the experience of being part of a landed selkie family would be ➤ very emotionally affecting too! ➤ 8k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Wei Wuxian & Jin Guangyao as narrative mirrors.</blockquote> ➤ the bit it says about how people often talk about how lwj and lxc both put all their love and trust into one man, and only one of them was right to - but actually before his resurrection wwx ALSO causes a lot of death and harm to loved ones

Summary: <blockquote>Lucy could play pretend in the countryside with the Professor and Miss Plummer and Peter and apparently Edmund, who Lucy had said was meeting him in London where they could easily get Susan before they met up with Eustace and Jill at the junction and on to Professor Kirke's— What fun, all the Friends of Narnia in one place, and just after they all thought they'd seen a Narnian. Well, I wouldn't go again, not for the richest jewel in all Narnia, Susan decided. One goes where one's invited, and Susan was going to a party.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>Convinced Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian will never reconcile of their own accord, Jin Ling takes matters into his own hands by trapping both of his uncles alone, together, without their cultivation.</blockquote> ➤ yunmeng shuangjie - first fic is them talking post-canon and resolving nothing, but it ends with wwx knowing that there is something that potentially COULD be solved so the door is now open for more. and then in the sequel, from jc's pov, they fight a dog demon together and manage the beginnings of a reconciliation ➤ series consists of: murky waters many envies