LINKDING

quote: The sand underfoot was still fresh with ripples where it had been raked to hide the blood. The sea rushed in over Leris’s feet, the wave in the water meeting the waves in the sand and smoothing out, inch by inch, the remaining evidence of the first bout. “Ready?” It was the first word Gerthe had spoken all day. The sun was just shy of its peak, bearing down on the spectators and the competitors in equal measure. It would have been different, in a proper amphitheatre: the two pairs of combatants would have regarded each other from the shaded safety of the tunnels, sizing the others up and taking the time to discuss strategy. But this was the archipelago, and one of the rimward isles besides, and the closest amphitheatre was a week’s sail away on Leshin. Here there was nothing but a patch of sand, bounded on one side by temporary wooden stands and on the other by the ocean. ➤ a full novella published online for free the same way a short story would be! ➤ secondary world fantasy about two women from the outskirts of empire, who don't fit the identities their cultures expect of them but are also out of place within the empire ➤ they're gladiators in a partnership where one in a pair of gladiators takes a "swordform" and the other wields them ➤ great characters and great worldbuilding and great reflections on identity in this context! ➤ I loved Leris and Gerthe, and Ulmo too ➤ and the Empress herself and her story is fascinating, and I can see how in a different narrative her backstory would be the focus of a heroic narrative, and I love that that's not the story we get, this isn't a "monarchy is good with the right person in charge" kind of story like so much fantasy is ➤ the narrative perspective on religion is really cool too ➤ 36k words in length

<blockquote>In which Wei Wuxian is cast back in time to the school at Cloud Recesses instead of falling to his death. Everyone is very confused and upset. Wen Qing fixes things.</blockquote> ➤ wwx is the one who time travels but it's from wq's pov. mostly gen but with a chill wq/lqr background relationship

<blockquote>I'm gonna be honest, I haven't actually seen 'Free Guy'. This was mostly inspired by the trailer, so familiarity with the film is definitely not required.</blockquote> ➤ the immersive virtual reality video game one where luo binghe is a surprisingly engaging npc part two: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17041973/chapters/87835618 part three: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17041973/chapters/108442480

<blockquote>Hi, Greg.</blockquote> ➤ lots of fun and very interesting, consisting entirely of posts to a message board about komarran music, but doesn't ever actually like..... have an emotional arc about Gregor. but that's fine it's still real fun to read! Love that he gets to have a hobby.

<blockquote>Alternatively the 'Game of Thrones' AU? Wherein Shen Jiu is the bastard son of the lauded Shen family.</blockquote> ➤ part 2 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/17041973/chapters/108442984

<blockquote>“It’ll be all right,” Nie Mingjue murmured to Nie Huaisang, who was curled in his arms, shaking and terrified. "It’ll be all right. We’ll manage, somehow.” He didn’t believe a word he said, of course. How could everything be all right? Their father was dead. Murdered – Wen Ruohan had put him down like a rabid dog, wringing his neck and tossing him aside. He’d then announced that Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang, now orphans, would be brought back to the Nightless City and taken into the Wen sect to be his wards, to be appropriately reeducated and brought up well. Brought up properly. Nie Mingjue didn’t know what to expect when they arrived. He didn’t think it would be anything good.</blockquote> ➤ the one where nmj becomes everyone's da-ge and that makes all the difference (by everyone I even include wen chao and wen xu!!)

<blockquote>Wen in body, Wei in motion, Lan Wangji is certain he has never hated, nor loved, any being so much as he feels towards the boy in his room. After Wei Wuxian's death and his own severe punishment, Lan Wangji must decide the direction his life will take.</blockquote> ➤ lwj & a-yuan, as lwj slowly recovers from the discipline whip ➤ brief sequel also good, about sizhui's courtesy name ➤ series consists of: Velle: to will, to wish Wynn: joy

<blockquote>And whatever is at the inner gate -- a something, not a someone -- has already passed clean through the wards. Which means whatever it is, it isn’t barred from entry. It’s waiting. / When a shadow appears at Cloud Recesses, an impromptu night hunt begins to unfold. </blockquote> ➤ the one where lxc's grief is manifesting as a resentful spirit when he's sleeping & dreaming. Also it's about sizhui's relationships with all the adults in his life and also with jingyi

<blockquote>Costis Ormentiedes swore to serve the king and his god, and he took that oath seriously. (Un)fortunately, so did the god.</blockquote> ➤ I had a hundred thousand feelings about this fic and it was amazing, I love these rare fics that focus on the importance of a platonic relationship, especially a complicated one like Eugenides and Costis. This fic also does a great job of having the gods exactly the right degree of involved for this fandom: they're definitely meddling but like, plausibly deniably, and also not in a way that's comfortable for anyone. Overall incredible! But also I am personally hurt that the legendary Kamet-and-Costis are willingly separated, apparently permanently :(

<blockquote>At twenty, Aragorn discovers that he is the hereditary captain of a people he has never met, but it will take many years and he will endure many hardships before he becomes a true leader of men.</blockquote> ➤ Five chapters, each of which is a different point in Aragorn's backstory. I love watching Aragorn slowly mature into who he's capable of being over the course of the story, and especially enjoyed the first few chapters when he's younger and uncertain

<blockquote>Obi-Wan didn't become Qui-Gon Jinn's apprentice, and Ben didn't exile himself to Tatooine. On Bandomeer the two meet.</blockquote> ➤ marked as a wip and hasn't updated in a year, but it feels like a good ending place to me so it doesn't read like a wip. ➤ This fic is a lovely look at how being part of the Agricorps instead of the Jedi Order can actually be a /good/ thing

<blockquote>It's bad luck to have a dragon aboard a ship, and this tiny black creature can't be natural at all. Slowed by a gale and bad-luck, the Reliant mutinies and puts Laurence and Temeraire alone on the Amitié. The journey back to England is difficult, and on the way Laurence accidentally finds himself leading a small fleet of fighting ships. As one does.</blockquote> ➤ I have no idea how plausible any of this is but oh my god I AM SO DELIGHTED ➤ Sequel: The Battle of Dover

<blockquote>Kidnapped from their everyday lives, Victoria and Zoë have been sent to Regency England to seek out the Doctor. How will they cope with a world of genteel manners, balls, elopements, and the threat of imminent fiery destruction?</blockquote>

<blockquote>In the Scriptures, the story of Michal begins with love and ends with barrenness and death: And Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David; and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. 1 Samuel 18:20 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child until the day of her death. 2 Samuel 6:23 Much might happen in between such short, bookend verses. This is the story of two young people who fell in love, who drifted out of it, and why.</blockquote>

➤ consisting of the fics "Historical Reintegration", "Historical Disintegration", and "The Marat Network". ➤ I will admit to being a little bit lost at times on account to not knowing much about these dudes but on the other hand it is ALARMINGLY DELIGHTFUL OH GOSH WOW

<blockquote>“Mum, the fact that Lydia was the first of us to end up barefoot and pregnant is honestly a source of continual surprise to me.” // As it turns out, Mary Bennet’s internal checklist to Being a Good Person—go to medical school; join Médecins Sans Frontières; save lives—is a somewhat oversimplification of matters.</blockquote> ➤ Yep, modern-AU Mary Bennet/Henry Crawford, and it is GLORIOUS.

<blockquote>Harvey Specter, second year law student at Harvard, was walking home one night when he found a teenaged runaway named Mike freezing to death on his doorstep.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Chuck decides to make a sock-puppet. When no one reads his fic, he wonders what he has to do to get noticed in SPN fandom.</blockquote> ➤ the entire fic is written in the style of a wank-report

➤ an accident to Kirk makes all three realize how much they mean to each other

<blockquote>Bill just couldn't leave her like that . . . but enlisting Jeannie Miller's help was a mistake. A mistake, because McKay was definitely going to kill him when he discovered the mess—well, mortal danger—Bill had gotten his sister into. Yeah. He was definitely a dead man. As soon as he managed to escape himself, that is. Of course, Bill really needn't have worried, because Jeannie, her brother, and Teyla were a little distracted by body swapping and explosions and terrorist attacks and the terrible question of what, exactly, constitutes human rights . . .</blockquote>

<blockquote>An adventure story. An extremely deep drama. A deathmarch.</blockquote> ➤ trapped in caves by unfriendly locals, on a planet that makes people with the gene sick

➤ the one with the wraith-sharks