LINKDING

Excerpt: <blockquote>That’s my last Duke painted on my locket. Sofonisba’s work. Look; there’s no cocket Wit there, no husbandly affection near. Just an icy regard, a chilly sneer, And a pair of painstakingly clean hands That ne’er strangled an intimate, yet plans To order it done with but a raised finger.</blockquote> ➤ narrative poetry from the pov of a dead woman to her terrible husband's new wife ➤ really fun and compelling to read on in a vacuum, but also it is clearly written in response to Browning's famous poem "My Last Duchess" and is from the pov of the dead woman that poem is about! ➤ also seems to be an alternate history narrative? again you don't need to know this to appreciate the poem but after reading it I had to look up the characters involved. POV character is Lucrezia de' Medici, her terrible husband is Alfonso II d'Este, but as far as I can tell the new wife is someone who in irl history died in infancy: Isabella, daughter of Charles III of Savoy. ➤ and now I really want to know more about the history of the time period and the ways that this would have affected things and why the author made these choices for the story of the poem! ➤ anyway. I like the poem. it's good. ➤ 1k words in length

<blockquote>“Show me his picture,” Yanli says. She keeps her fingers wrapped close around the cooling mug. Xue Yang types and swipes on his massive phone, then turns it around.</blockquote> ➤ arranged date I guess? tagged as arranged marriage because that's like, the closest thing I've got

<blockquote>Qin Su is sick and tired of this wedding. And her marriage. Nie Huaisang is conveniently present.</blockquote>

<blockquote>About “Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” (5 contributors, 5 notes, 7 comments) →“Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather” (Roud 423, Child 313) is a traditional English folk ballad. Like many traditional songs, the lyrics are unattributed. Child transcribed twenty verses, and a twenty-first got added later (and is included here for some unknown reason—I keep writing to the Lyricsplainer mods to get someone to delete it or include it as a separate entry, but nobody responds, and all they’ve done is put brackets around it. Sometimes I hate this site.) Most modern recordings pick and choose verses and include far fewer than the full twenty. There are several variant titles, and the characters’ names shift through the various broadsides and folk and rock versions.– BonnieLass67 (11 upvotes)</blockquote> ➤ the entire story is told through a) the lyrics of a "traditional" folk song, and b) the conversation held between various people on a music website analyzing the song. There's plenty of questions left unanswered but enough is told to make some things very clear! I love it.

<blockquote>That first autumn it felt as if the whole world had been made for them—which, of course, it had. They walked down the avenue of oaks that reached above their heads like Gothic arches, red leaves drifting lazily down to collect at their feet. Ashwin was pleased as anything and couldn’t say enough about the designers, how it was worth spending more sometimes, how you got what you paid for. Everything was just as he’d imagined it: roseate light, unseasonal butterflies, crisp air with a faint waft of frost in it. To Jade, the place was beautiful without having any special charm; she knew she could have seen the same landscape in a vidroom down the street from their apartment, could’ve had the scent of fog and bonfires pumped in and controlled the temperature from her cuff. But Ash was always a fanatic for authenticity.</blockquote> ➤ oh fascinating!! and what a good ending too

<blockquote>When Vivian and her daughter witness the family matriarch die without leaving a corpse, Vivian can no longer ignore the family “gift” or the choice that lies before her.</blockquote>

<blockquote>He is not a remarkable student, Neconnu. Some among more senior Masters—those not required to take on teaching duties—did not even recognize his name when they found it entered into the lists for examination. But this is not as unusual as one might think; magi are not known for their humility. Already this year three candidates have overreached themselves, and been sent away. Odds are high that Neconnu will be the fourth. But he must have his chance. The Obsidian Master asks the question that pulses behind every serene expression. “What act will you perform, to prove your right to the degree of vīs faciendī?” Harrik Neconnu says, “I am going to return the dead to life.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>Anakin has always had an easy time getting what he wants. (He never means to do it.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>"Lady Therese Vorkalloner," Esterhazy announces. He ushers her in and then makes a discreet retreat. Aral pushes himself up higher in the chair and looks at his ex-wife. He can't recall when he had last seen her. Their circles haven't crossed very much since her remarriage and, when they have, she's made it clear that they've already said all they've needed to each other. But she's not the first one of Aral's old enemies to come see him on his sick bed.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Rita Hanson is also experiencing a time loop on February 2nd, 2017 in Punxsutawney. But it's not quite the same.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Funny you should say that,” I said. “I’m interested in paint.” “Painting.” “Paint,” I said. “I dabble a bit in alchemy, and I reckon it might be possible to make synthetic blue. Instead of having to grind up ruinously expensive lapis lazulae in a pestle and mortar.” She didn’t say anything, so I went on: “There’s definitely a demand for it. A genuine deep royal blue at a fraction of the price. A man could make a nice little bit of money that way.” “I’ve never used blue.” “Too expensive?” She nodded. “That’s why I started doing portraits, you don’t have to have any sky.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>No one will sleep until the Princess learns the Stranger’s name. Liù the slave girl, who has loved the Stranger since before his exile, when he was a Prince, when he smiled at her—Liù alone knows who he really is. So it is Liù who is dragged to the Princess’s garden by night, bound, ankles twisting as she stumbles through the peonies.</blockquote> ➤ Not sure I quite follow the ending but it works anyway

<blockquote>A young food taster to the Traitor King must make a difficult choice in this story of pastries, magic, and revenge.</blockquote>

<blockquote>AU from the beginning of Queen of Attolia. Attolia decides to take what she wants.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Marie kept on chattering. “...and the suitors can start watching you dance for the unicorns next month. Philippe is first in line to try, right? He would make a good king.” “Mother danced for nine men before Father.” Zéphine mashed the custard with her spoon. “I wouldn’t like that.” Marie’s dark eyebrows drew together. “Nine men, all dead....” I would only like to summon a unicorn, thought Zéphine. The men can look after themselves. But she knew that no unicorn would ever come for her.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The sorceress keeps her magic on the hearth, under a big, iron cauldron where its red glow can mix in with the always-dying embers. --- Days of a nightingale & dreams of her lover</blockquote>

<blockquote>You can travel the world, you can see Kuala Lumpur and the Côte D'Azur, go everywhere, try anything; but it all comes down to one moment where you realise you're about to get engaged to a deeply lovely man who is undoubtedly going to turn you into your mother. I'm only against turning into my mother on principle.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“So you’re sure this new technique is safe? No side effects?” John asked, and I offered reassurance. “So I slide into this overgrown lipstick tube for seven years. You keep me sitting in your room around all through med school and residency, like some kind of statue. Then when you finish residency, we turn the tables. I go out and conquer the universe, while you turn into the world’s lowest-maintenance girlfriend. Right? Then fourteen years from now, we’re both just seven years older and fully qualified to live where we want and do our jobs. It’s an audacious plan. No doubt about that.”</blockquote>

<blockquote>George had only ever taken one trip without Millie, in the fall of 1951. A letter had arrived from the army asking him to fly to New Mexico.</blockquote> ➤ part 2 http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/in-joy-knowing-the-abyss-behind-part-2/

<blockquote>The witch had a favorite saying: where there’s life, there’s magic. There was a second part — where there’s magic, there’s death — but she usually kept that to herself.</blockquote> ➤ strange and creepy-sad and compelling

<blockquote>Snow White and Rose Red live peacefully in the forest with their mother, but their earliest memories are of a different life: a blighted homeworld and a journey through the stars. A winter visitor and a falling star lead them on a journey to discover the truth about their home and about their own mysterious powers.</blockquote> ➤ what an interesting and great scifi reimagining of snow white & rose red, that actually makes some sense of the weirdness of the story

<blockquote>He still finds her beautiful, as aged and frail and grey as she is. His Sarah. She's still as beautiful and cruel as she ever was.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Maxim and Mrs. de Winter in Greece, long after Manderley.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Nurse Angelica is not young, but she also doesn't feel old enough to lay aside all pleasures of the flesh. When she makes an offer to a man she thought would be amiable to at her advances, he spurns her cruelly. Then, it knocks on her door, and she learns that there are still courteous men in fair Verona. (Courteous, perhaps, but not always well-versed in what a woman wishes. Luckily, Angelica knows her mind and is not afraid to speak it.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>A few hours before, Steve was Captain America, flying a plane into the ice to save his country, save everyone. There's no United States of America on Earth anymore, but there's one on Mars.</blockquote> ➤ I am so into this

<blockquote>This was inspired by a friend who said that one of the things she really liked about Gaudy Night was that she felt that it could have gone either way - it would have been equally plausible if Harriet had said "no" at the end. So I thought to string a few cliches together and think about what if things had gone the other way</blockquote>

<blockquote>marius/montparnasse, bodyswap</blockquote> ➤ !!!!

<blockquote>Cosette, unwilling to disturb Marius with her problem, is troubled by a ghost from the past.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Proserpina, torn between love and how she wants to live weighs the pomegranate seeds in her warm and living hands</blockquote>

<blockquote>Young Sam grows up, meets a girl, cracks a case, and tells a lie. Not necessarily in that order.</blockquote>