LINKDING

excerpt: If you were to drive to my sister Violet’s house today, you would find yourself at a very different place from the one I encountered on my first trip. The road up the mountain has been paved, for one thing, to make it more accessible to the tourists who now support it. Back then if you were behind the wheel of anything other than a farm truck, you were as likely to wreck an axle or lose a tire to the ruts; not knowing, I’d driven the Jag that day. ➤ fantasy novelette about family, and two sisters trying to reconnect after many years of estrangement ➤ a quiet and contemplative sort of vibe ➤ the slow reveals were effective ➤ I'm not quite sure about the pacing/vibe of the ending, but overall still a thoroughly interesting and enjoyable story ➤ 12k words in length

A woman visiting Las Vegas for a fun weekend encounters her ne’er-do-well ex-husband, who begs her for a favor that gambles with life and death… ➤ fantasy novelette about a jewish grandmother, after the death of her daughter, facing and dealing with the ways her troubled first marriage affected her life and her daughter ➤ Schanoes is so good at character and setting and emotion! ➤ and it's always great to have a story where the hero is an older woman ➤ 12k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Even death is no match for a trio of elderly, stubborn, ever-sparring sisters, who refuse to rest in peace while their grudges live on…</blockquote> ➤ an original story about ghosts and toxic family dynamics and feeling trapped ➤ the three sisters who are the main characters are all difficult people in their own way, and all fully-realized characters I truly believe in ➤ I loved that it's a story where the moral isn't "family should always stick together." family can be wonderful but it can also be awful, and sometimes you're better off apart ➤ 14k words in length ➤ I think it would be stronger for being shorter but I still enjoyed it

Summary: <blockquote>Zixuan would like to be closer with his half-brother. He would like to skip all the awkward fumbly beginning bit where they don't know each other and just magically arrive at fraternal harmony, where they can joke around like the Jiangs and look out for each other like the Nies and have that spooky synchronicity like the Lans, but the truth is that he's never had a sibling, and he has no script or example for what you're meant to do when you discover one as an adult. They don't have years of in-jokes and growing pains to fall back on, they're basically just strangers who happen to share a parent. / the sickfic fixit in which JGY discovers the Mortifying Ordeal Of Being Known and Zixuan discovers the Mortifying Ordeal of Getting To Know Other People</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>The slow purpling of the evening sky makes their robes blend into their shadows, their shadows blend into the still water stretched out before them. Home, Jiang Cheng thinks, satisfied, and A-Ling exhales softly against him, and everything is good, and none of them move to leave.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The first indication there was something peculiar happening in the Inner Palace came heralded by the news that Prince Jing had returned injured from exile in the northernmost battlefields of Da Liang and it was revealed that the Emperor had not only granted an audience with Concubine Jing, but consented to allowing her to tend to Prince Jing herself, heretofore unprecedented liberty.</blockquote>

<blockquote>When the former Madam Lan hears that the new Sect Leader Lan married a criminal who is kept in the same house where she once lived, she has only one choice. She has to return to Cloud Recesses to rescue Wei Wuxian!</blockquote> ➤ first chapter is what's in the summary, second is lxc's response to his mother's return

<blockquote>Lan Huan is ready to take his relationship with Jiang Cheng to the next level. Spending the weekend at Jiang Cheng's place is definitely going to achieve that, but not at all in the ways he expected. Lan Huan didn't know his brother was seeing someone. Wei Ying didn't know about Lan Huan's shitty ex. Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan just want their boyfriends to get through this weekend intact.</blockquote> ➤ I was sad to not see on-page the work towards repairing the relationship between lwj&lxc, but it's very good as what it is nonetheless

<blockquote>When Valancy and Barney return to Mistawis, their island fastness is invaded by visitors.</blockquote>

<blockquote>“Well, when I asked Wei-gongzi what you might want for your birthday, he asked me what I could give you that no one else could.” Lan Sizhui can’t help but smile. It’s so Wei-qianbei to answer a question with a question. “A-and I thought… if you wanted, I could…” The next words are so quiet, Lan Sizhui struggles to hear them. “I thought I could show you our family.” For Lan Sizhui's birthday, he receives a glimpse behind the curtain of all that was. </blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Ying was pretty sure his next door neighbor Lan Qiren hated him until he adopted A-Yuan. Now he’s bringing by disgustingly healthy food, taking Wei Ying and A-Yuan to family dinners, and let’s not even mention the nephews he keeps hinting Wei Ying should meet. Is it possible Wei Ying, consummate orphan, has found a family in his grumpy old neighbor?</blockquote> ➤ series consists of: The stuffed bunny, the beautiful nephew, and other gifts from Lan Qiren The extravagant wedding, the gorgeous brother, and other reasons you should listen to your uncle

<blockquote>This is Chapter Thirty or so in a whole ongoing saga that I don’t have time to get into right now. I’m jumping in at the point when my Machiavellian twin brother Charles decided to take over Mars, and I decided to help. My big failing is I never figure these things out until I’m already in the middle of them. But I’ve survived this long, haven’t I?</blockquote>

<blockquote>Lan Qiren finds a boy on the streets of Yiling and the world changes. A story in three parts</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian braces himself for what might come next, the story of how this man died by the Yiling Patriarch's hand—at Nightless City, at the Burial Mounds, as the rest of the sects tried to bring that great villain to account. "What was his name?" Uncle Gan sits back, twiddles his thumbs as he thinks. "Well, it'd be Wei something, of course." "Wei Changze, wasn't it?" chimes in a new person, and if anyone agrees or disagrees, Wei Wuxian does not hear them. His wine bowl slips from his grip and the sudden clatter of it barely registers over the unexpected sounds of his father's name. Wei Changze, slipping so careless from a stranger's mouth here in small Taozi, here of all places under the open sky. Wei Changze. - Wei Wuxian meets his grandmother. No, not the immortal one. The other one.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In his defense—not that he needs one, of course, because he’s done nothing wrong, technically, for the most part, but if he did he’d have this one ready, just in case—Jingyi started it. Jin Ling comes up with a foolproof plan to repair his uncles' relationship. Unfortunately, his uncles can be very, very stupid.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Wei Wuxian has been wandering alone for six months when he suddenly stops writing. This is deeply concerning to at least a few people. Jiang Cheng is not among them. No, really, he's not. (Or, the one where Wei Wuxian vanishes and Lan Wangji, reluctantly, asks for Jiang Cheng's help tracking him down.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Jiang Cheng takes a few deep breaths and tries to put his life back together. This is easier said than done. Notes: As I said recently on my blog: get into a show for the gay angst, come out of it with the sibling angst, aka this is kind of the fic I came out of the series most wanting to write. Because I have, wouldn't you know it, a lot of feelings. Specifically about complicated sibling relationships and trying to fix the things you kinda broke and don't really know how to put back together, especially when you're not always sure what you even want, really, and also everyone is traumatized. So this is what happened when I took a swan dive into that.</blockquote>

<blockquote>One day in Lanling, a little blind beggar picks Nie Huaisang’s pocket, which is the most interesting thing to happen to him in months. (AKA the one where Nie Huaisang adopts A-Qing.)</blockquote>

<blockquote> December 2, 1962 Dear Calvin, Congratulations on your upcoming marriage! I hope that you and <del>Michelle</del></blockquote> ➤ told through a series of unsent letters, as the title implies. Between the unsent letters you can tell that there are sent ones, and phone calls, and in-person visits, and through what is and isn't said in these unsent fragments you can piece together what's going on in between, and it's lovely.

<blockquote>Jin Ling had begun to suspect years ago that there were parts of his family history that had been crossed out; long streaks of black where Wei Wuxian had been. The truth is more like whole books being brought up from their hiding places again. Or: Jin Ling tries to figure out what family means, now.</blockquote>

<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>“You’ve got a fever,” Wei Wuxian says soothingly. “You just keep still as well as you can. We’ll have you fixed up soon.” Lan Sizhui recognizes his tone—this is the voice that Wei Wuxian uses on hurt people and young children, a very calm and no-nonsense voice that has none of the mischief and cheer of the way he sounds the rest of the time. Lan Sizhui looks up and meets his eyes, and they are dark, stormy gray, muddled and concerned. “I’m all right,” he croaks. “Hush,” Wei Wuxian says, in a low croon, like someone quieting a baby. Then he blinks, and looks away, awkward. “I mean—you shouldn’t speak. You’re tired. Rest if you need to.” or: lan sizhui gets sick on a night hunt. wei wuxian comforts him. they both have a lot of feelings about it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>As always, he arrives with no forewarning. One second, Lan Sizhui and the others are struggling against the hordes of resentful spirits created by some villagers’ accidental disruption of an ancient burial ground—far more spirits than had been initially reported, far more than they had been prepared for—and the next, he’s there, striding fearlessly into the mix, the sound of Chenqing piercing the air. / Or: A meditation on family and the merits of communication, courtesy of Lan Sizhui.</blockquote> ➤ mostly gen about sizhui and jin ling and wwx being faaaaaamily

<blockquote>“Just do what you can, Senior Wei!” Sizhui whispers. “We’ll be right here!” “Yeah!” Jingyi says. “And just remember: it’s going to be a disaster either way, so it’s not like there’s much you can do about it!” (Or: Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng plan a discussion conference together. It goes about as well as Wei Wuxian expects.)</blockquote>

<blockquote>Genly and Estraven have long talks on the way to Osborth.</blockquote> ➤ (on the meaning of fatherhood)

<blockquote>We first noticed something was off one April afternoon when Jessica and I came home from school and Mom had lopped her hair off. Though we probably should’ve known something was going on a week or two before that when Cecilia Ivers’ mom started baking cakes full of Tabasco sauce and pickles (bizarre but good). But anyway, we walked in the front door, and Mom came out of the living room to greet us. Her hair looked cool, and cool was just about the last word I ever would’ve used to describe her. It looked weird, and that was cool. Jessica let out a whistle of startled appreciation. She wanted to cut her hair short and dye it purple, but she knew our dad would freak. </blockquote>

<blockquote>They say that done properly, parenting is a heroic act. (Or: Jefferson finds out. It doesn't go well, until it does.)</blockquote>

<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>The day I found out my Uncle Will was still alive, I had been out spraying the crops in a full crinkly hazmat suit. The Earthers I was working for were nice people, but they always whined about the suits. To me they seemed light and airy, hardly even an annoyance compared to a vacuum suit, so I was the one who would get sent out first with the sprayer when the blight warnings came in from the provincial capital in Edmonton. I didn’t mind. It was the tenth month of my indenture on Earth, and I had almost gotten used to the smell, but even so a little overlay of antifungal didn’t change it much.</blockquote> ➤ (I cried)

<blockquote>She is a gift to Lord Vader from the Emperor. Her name is Padme Skywalker.</blockquote>