LINKDING

<blockquote>Later, when he’s older, it’s this that A-Yuan will remember most: the stretch of silence, the two of them both dirty and shaking with fever, as he looked at Brother Rich, and Brother Rich looked back at him.</blockquote> ➤ does an incredible job of evoking a tone and mood, and the quiet delicate complexities of emotions

<blockquote>A boy is going to die. The only question is: what is Huaisang going to do about it?</blockquote> ➤ Oh holy heck this is INCREDIBLE, I was riveted throughout, and I love how it portrays the complicated mix of emotions and motivations that Nie Huaisang and Mo Xuanyu have, and the way everything leads inexorably to this horrible and perfect end.

<blockquote>His father in white plays the song late into the night, and when A-Yuan wakes up confused and afraid, the guqin lulls him back to sleep. Lan Sizhui hears his father play the same song every night for his whole life, and never, ever get an answer.</blockquote> ➤ this is incredible, I didn't expect to love it as much as I did but I really did!

<blockquote>Where Genly Ai went, after Winter. [Written for Yuletide 2010.]</blockquote> ➤ oh, wow. Very effective at grounding in setting such that it evokes a strong consistent feeling throughout. Plus excellent alien anthropology

<blockquote>Darling was in fact so tremendously remarkable by nature that Jack had resolved never to be astonished by anything he did. One had to expect remarkable sorts to be a law unto themselves, and besides half the fun of being Darling's friend lay in trying to keep a straight face. Nothing inspired Darling to greater heights of nonsense than the prospect of cracking Jack's composure. It was good fun and suited them both jolly well. This comfortable habit was thrown rather out of joint on the evening when Jack came into his rooms to find Darling perched on Jack's much-neglected desk and assiduously applying deep scarlet lipstick to his mouth with the assistance of a small silver-backed hand mirror. "Oh, I say," said Jack.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It is not an enviable position, being a bridge, particularly a bridge with visions. But sometimes, to build the future, that's what you need. Or: Harry and Corlath's daughter comes to Istan.</blockquote>

<blockquote>It was the middle of an autumn downpour when Tobias first met Henry Silver. Midsummer had come and gone, and the wood was quiet.</blockquote> ➤ oh my gosh this is so gooooooooood, a story about a folklorist and a wild man of the woods, and I love how beautifully balanced it is between the main romance and everything else that's important to the pov character

<blockquote>“It’s wastoures! They came through Newton and Blackhill and killed everything, and then they split into two big groups and one turned north, and the other’s coming here. I stay ahead of them and earn pennies by warning people.” Wastoures. Perhaps you have not heard of them, you people born a thousand years after Ada and Blanche and this runner—whose name is Hardourt, though his part in this story is nearly over: his name will not matter to you, though it matters to him. In your time they are gone, but in the twelfth century, every child knew of them, and adults as well. Wastoures: scarce larger than chickens but unfeathered and wingless, snake-necked and sharp-beaked and bright-clawed, with little arms ending in daggery talons. For long years there would be no wastoures (except in memory and dread), and then a population bloom, like duckweed choking an August pond, or locusts after a dry spring, or cicadas rising from the ground each seventeenth year. For reasons unknowable, they emerged in their scores of thousands from some unknown cave or forgotten Roman mine, and seethed like floodwater or plague across the land.</blockquote> ➤ I'm fascinated by the way the narrative continues to draw your attention to what might happen to the other characters Ada encounters throughout the story, and the structure of Story.

<blockquote>New Orleans stank to the heavens. This was either the water, which did not have the decency to confine itself to the river but instead puddled along every street; or the streets themselves, which seemed to have been cobbled with bricks of fired excrement. Or it may have come from the people who jostled and trotted along the narrow avenues, working and lounging and cursing and shouting and sweating, emitting a massed reek of unwashed resentment and perhaps a bit of hangover. As Jessaline strolled beneath the colonnaded balconies of Royal Street, she fought the urge to give up, put the whole fumid pile to her back, and catch the next dirigible out of town.</blockquote> ➤ Steampunk alternate history about Haiti!

<blockquote>It takes a few decades to really get to know a person. Especially when they keep changing; especially when they're unsure of themselves.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Miss Gibson said, “In the spirit of truthful admission, Miss Bennet, I intend to spend some time devising the right question for you. If I may see you again?” Why did that sound strange? But she always sounded strange to people herself. And it was a familiar kind of strangeness, as if it were something she had heard before, only not like this. Mary, constrained by the principles of truth, could only admit that she would enjoy that very much.</blockquote> ➤ this fic is SUPER GOOD, I love everything about it!!!

<blockquote>Baze tries to befriend new arrival Chirrut Îmwe, but accidentally woos him instead.</blockquote> ➤ I am thoroughly charmed and delighted by this version of Chirrut and Baze

<blockquote>Grandmother ruled Gir Niajra, and always had. Jummai felt certain this was so, mostly because it was impossible to imagine otherwise: anyone, anyone at all, seated so comfortably on that great golden throne except Grandmother? Anyone who could look or speak with such authority, to whom so many great and worthy people bowed down? No—only Grandmother. It had always been Grandmother, and it always would be. Then Grandmother died; and there was a war. (Or: Jummai is a princess without a throne—but she has no intention of leaving to others what is rightfully hers. She needs a wife with an army, and gets one; but her wife seems impervious to her tactical charm, she keeps making mistakes, and her cousin still wants her dead.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>A failed attempt at reincarnating a supersoldier meets his former self's old boyfriend.</blockquote> ➤ incredible worldbuilding and characterizing, as always for shukyou. I was particularly drawn in by the questions of identity in this story.

<blockquote>"I don't mess with the fae," Otabek says. "I'm not asking you to mess with them," JJ flat-out lies.</blockquote>

<blockquote>How Bodhi Rook temporarily misplaced the two most important things in the galaxy, and how he found them again (with a little help).</blockquote> ➤ a fixit that still makes you cry is the best/worst. This was so good and now I care so much for Bodhi's family and for all of Jedha auuuuughhghg

<blockquote>Back in St Petersburg, Victor attempts to combine coaching Yuuri with preparing for his own return to competition. The spirit is willing but the flesh may be weak.</blockquote>

<blockquote>features trade routes, magical fertilizer, and one girl's centuries-long effort to impress a woman who is already in a committed relationship with a boat.</blockquote> Yeah!!!! I've already read it twice since I discovered this story yesterday. the fantasist no longer has the story up so it's now posted on the author's website https://rebeccafraimow.com/2023/08/20/suradanna-and-the-sea/

<blockquote>The man loosed my arm, raised a hand. He held a long pin, like the ones in the bowed heads before us, dark wood inlaid with shell. “This was in Itet’s hand when they pulled her out of the water,” said the man. The staring woman didn’t answer. “I have seen it in your hair before, Eritiri. Itet was chosen to be sacrificed this year. And you were not. Did you think, if she was dead, you could win her place? “I would have liked to make you watch her sacrificed, before your execution. But you have succeeded in that much, at least—she is ineligible.” A twitch of the woman’s mouth, the beginning of a bitter smile. “As for you, your body will be cast on the trash heap, a sacrifice for nothing and no one, like any common criminal.” The woman’s mouth trembled, and a tear formed and rolled down her cheek.</blockquote> ➤ part of leckie's godsverse

<blockquote>The Fleet of the Godless came to the waters around Au by chance. It was an odd assortment of the refugees of the world; some had deliberately renounced all gods, some had offended one god in particular. A few were some god’s favorites that another, rival god had cursed. But most were merely the descendants of the original unfortunates and had never lived any other way.</blockquote> ➤ part of leckie's godsverse ➤ the one with the self-serving god who has promised to protect and care for a particular island nation, with things like human sacrifice as recompense

<blockquote>“No,” answered my father. “Better.” He sat on the bench behind him. My brothers and I knew better than to sit ourselves. “He wants to end the curse on his line. And Artau Ehat, the lord of the sky and protector of Therete, has said to the king of Therete — or to his priests, since because of the curse the king himself isn’t able to enter the god’s presence — that the curse will be ended when the prince Atehatsqe marries your sister. And,” he continued into our perplexed silence, “if he can get a better price for timber, so much the better.”</blockquote> ➤ part of leckie's godsverse

<blockquote>A peaceful mission develops some unforeseen complications, and Qui-Gon Jinn learns something new about Obi-Wan Kenobi, and something new about himself.</blockquote> ➤ Slower paced, and out took me a little while to get into it, but I really like it. Ends in just the right place, with that place being Qui-Gon's realization of his feelings and decision not to act on then, and Obi-Wan's conclusion from the trends of past relationships to not have a relationship for a while. ➤ I liked that this fic allows Jedi to have love and relationships without it being against the code, but with their Jedi role always being more important to them than their relationship

<blockquote>"Maul was my pride, my greatest accomplishment aside from the political games that have wrought me control over the Republic. Why should I take a second apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi? Why would you be worth my time?” “Because I fucking hate you.”</blockquote> ➤ Obi-Wan undercover as sith apprentice, entirely too much fun

<blockquote>Released from his role as Prince by the birth of a son to the Emperor and Empress, Idra is allowed to attend university. But he can't escape his past so easily, or perhaps at all, particularly not when he meets someone who walks under a similar shadow ... Three years post-canon.</blockquote> ➤ about a friendship between Idra and that quiet awkward sister (Paru Tethimin) of the dude who did the betraying

<blockquote>Even the sweetest pup will bite if handled roughly, and Regan is no innocent. The making of a girl who embraced her demons and turned them to her purpose.</blockquote>

<blockquote>An Imperial officer loses a bet and has to get Darth Vader a present for Life Day.</blockquote> ➤ omg. from the premise I thought this would be silly crack but it's actually treated pretty seriously as a premise? ➤ Great outside pov perspective with these little indications of what the Imperial propaganda teaches about Jedi, for example. ➤ In which an imperial officer does research to figure out the identity of the pilot who destroyed the (first) death star.

<blockquote>Mark is pretty sure there's something up here with him, hunting him.</blockquote> ➤ tagged with "psychological horror" and holy crap, this is really good and intense/effective. I am deeply hoping that the demon-alien was just a figment of Mark's mind because otherwise there's MORE of them there on Mars for future missions to have to deal with and just NO. (also the relationship stuff was good))

<blockquote>Esca is a prisoner on Marcus Flavius Aquila's transport ship. What could go wrong?</blockquote> ➤ the space opera rewrite of the story! the fic tags itself as marcus/esca slash but there's a few bare hints that that might be where things are going and that's all. it's functionally totally gen.

<blockquote>Home is a strange place.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Darcy's impotent.</blockquote> ➤ okay but this is actually amazing???