LINKDING

Summary: <blockquote>Lan Qiren still couldn’t quite bring himself to believe it. He was married. He had a wife. That wife was Wen Ruohan.</blockquote> ➤ omggg I tore through this fic SO fast and had SO much fun with it ➤ lan qiren/wen ruohan arranged marriage! ➤ I'm always here for fic that's like "okay this ship might sound ridiculous but WHAT IF --" and then comes up with genius ways to make it plausible ➤ there's fun character interactions and fascinating plot and it does interesting things exploring the situation between Qingheng-Jun and his wife, and I love how much lan qiren loves rules and has carefully considered what they mean wrt right behaviour ➤ I love this vision of lqr so much, and I love how FUNNY the interactions between lqr and wrh are, and how well these interpretations of the characters work with each other and play off each other in mutually beneficial ways! ➤ the fic started off a little slow but once I was into it I was INTO IT and read every word with relish ➤ completely delightful. do recommend. ➤ 287,000 words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Sequel to Late Night, North Station. Lan Zhan brings Wei Ying and A-Yuan home with him. Now he just needs to figure out how to get them to stay.</blockquote> ➤ modern au where wwx reappears after many years and lwj wants to keep him in his life in whatever way he can ➤ I love! how much they care about each other, and how they try to navigate the new/old dynamics between them with the additional perspective that being older will bring ➤ though lwj still hasn't entirely figured out the framework to understand his attraction to wwx ➤ they're both trying so hard to not overstep boundaries between them but they can both agree that whatever is best for a-Yuan is worth doing ➤ watching them slide into intimacy and intertwined lives, and how lwj comes alive with wwx and a-yuan in his life! endless delight ➤ impeccable under-negotiated d/s vibes between them ➤ I love the glimpses into all the other people in their lives as well! ➤ ahhh there are so many things I could keep saying about this fic! it's so good ➤ 106k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>As the head disciple of An Ding Peak, Shang Qinghua threw the plot out the window and abandoned his sect, and now he enjoys a luxurious life as Tianlang-Jun and Su Xiyan's most treasured and trusted advisor, as the happy couple rules over the Demon Realm together with iron fists. He has everything a transmigrator could want. Unfortunately, there's only so long that the Imperial Advisor can continue to avoid another of Tianlang-Jun's favorite underlings: Mobei-Jun, the new Northern King. An attempt on Shang Qinghua's life inside the Underground Palace itself forces him back into the company of the demon who was once destined to kill his character - and who also once promised to kill him if they ever met again.</blockquote> ➤ like much of this author's writing, its pacing is a little off (too slow and meandering) but it's a fun au

Summary: <blockquote>Upon their first meeting, Hanguang-jun and the Yiling Laozu begin an affair. Wei Wuxian understands this; what he doesn’t understand is why Lan Wangji keeps coming back for more.</blockquote> ➤ mdzs canon

Summary: <blockquote>After getting lost in Ghost City, Xie Lian bargains away years of servitude to the Gambler’s Den to help a man in need. He dons the robes of a worker and hides his face and life behind an enchanted mask, protecting himself from the city's denizens. Xie Lian finds an unexpected home in Ghost City before he ever sees the lord of it, the infamous Hua Cheng. When he finally does, something about himself seems to catch the attention of the Ghost King, slowly striking up an unusual friendship. Xie Lian must figure out how to navigate his burgeoning feelings, how to keep his identity to himself, and how to get over a ghost so clearly in love with someone else.</blockquote> ➤ I enjoyed the fic a lot but the ending wasn't very tight

Summary: <blockquote>In the years following the Sunshot Campaign, the mysterious, masked cultivator who’d defeated Wen Ruohan took on many identities: the Yiling Patriarch, leader of the Wen rebels, enemy of the Jin Sect, practitioner of wicked tricks. His true name was shrouded in mystery. He always wore a mask. He carried no sword; wore no clan colors or insignia. Clouds of resentful energy clung to him as he walked. But there was one thing that absolutely everyone agreed on: the Yiling Patriarch could not possibly be from the Jiang Sect. Or: a Scarlet Pimpernel/Untamed crossover featuring Wei Wuxian in disguise, Lan Wangji determined to bring the nefarious Yiling Patriarch to justice, and the hijinks that ensue when you accidentally marry your greatest enemy/love of your life.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>Shen Qingqiu folded his arms around the trembling boy, his sleeves flowing about him like a blanket. “Silly child,” he whispered, head dipping down until his cheek rest on Binghe’s wild hair, blowing around them in a mane of curls from the hot wind that gusted upwards from the inferno of the Endless Abyss. “Your shizun would never make you face such terrors alone.” He took a deep breath, squeezed the youth tighter, his own hands shaking ever so slightly, the only betrayal of his cool composure. “But this master has no choice but to take you to your fate.” And then he tipped himself, and Luo Binghe in his arms, over the edge of the cliff.</blockquote> ➤ starts as a fairly normal canon divergence and then gets into some genuinely interesting au stuff with a Repair System and all. Not everything about the fic is perfect, there are pacing issues and dropped threads, but a fun and interesting read

<blockquote>Jonathan’s life was fine. He didn’t need other people. He studied them instead, like fire ants on the abandoned edge of the playground; carefully, with a stick and good shoes, watching their patterns and keeping his observations to himself, figuring out which ones to leave alone and which ones would make good surprises in bullies’ backpacks. Other people were tools, in the multiple definitions of the word. He used them. He didn’t like them. He didn’t need them. He was fine. All in all, it wasn’t difficult to stay a virgin until he turned thirty. A JGY-centric, Cherry Magic-inspired AU.</blockquote> ➤ (Jonathan is jgy's english name) ➤ I loved how so many of the characters in this fic have different relationships with sex (and intimacy and touch in general!) in ways that don't line up with societal expectations but are still all very different from each other ➤ series consists of: Point of Contact Cabin Pressure

<blockquote>(oh my god they were roommates) "Thank you, valued user, for accepting the Protagonist Rehabilitation Programme. Your task: Ensure the protagonist's happiness." Shen Yuan is convinced that his favouri... least favourite novel's main protagonist isn't really happy. He has babes, money and power, but does he have any friends? Cue the system handily dropping Demon King Luo Binghe into his bedroom. Can Shen Yuan make him happy before the timer runs out? (90% light-hearted comedy, 10% existential horror and fear because this is the OG PIDW Binghe we're talking about)</blockquote> ➤ reverse transmigration

<blockquote>After the Blue Spirit frees the Avatar from the Pohuai Stronghold, Admiral Zhao captures Prince Zuko under suspicion of treason. Isolated from his Uncle and his crew, Zuko has only one ally: the chatty prisoner one cell over.</blockquote> ➤ Zuko & Sokka focus but the whole gaang is here

<blockquote>Every morning he wakes up, and forgets.</blockquote> ➤ this is soooooo good ➤ SPOILER: the premise of the fic is: "What would Xie Lian have done in the name of atoning for his regrets, and how might that have been taken advantage of."

<blockquote>Shen Yuan isn't lonely. He's just overseas in a new city, trying to muddle his way through a business degree, and dealing with the side effects of his stupid intestines trying to kill him. So, maybe he sometimes watches ASMR to cope with his too-quiet apartment. Maybe he has a little bit of a parasocial-relationship-thing going on with one particular cooking ASMR channel. It's 2016, who doesn't? The point is, he's content with his quiet life. And then Shang Qinghua strong-arms him into watching one Hallmark Christmas movie, and it all goes to hell. Or: Shen Yuan is a Hallmark movie protagonist, Luo Binghe is a Lifetime movie protagonist, and somehow they make it work.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Oh no! Liu Qingge has been inflicted with a dastardly poison, one that will slowly and painfully liquefy his organs if he doesn't dual cultivate with someone soon! Thankfully, the good doctor Mu Qingfang is here to save his most frequent patient... however a few difficulties arise: for every partner the victim has been with, this most sinister poison, Blinders for Wandering Eyes, becomes all the more deadly! One would think the austere and proud lord of Bai Zhan peak would have no problem with such a substance, and yet...</blockquote> ➤ series consists of: For Want of a Vacation Pay it Forward Concessions Just trus(s)t me Bronze mirror [wip through ch1] Burn away the chill The Process of Elimination Follow-Up Appointment

<blockquote>Sometimes Lan Zhan doesn’t work through lunch. Sometimes he makes conversation with coworkers in the halls. Sometimes he goes home instead of spending the last hour trawling through Grindr. But mostly, that’s exactly what he does. The sameness is comforting. His life spools out in easily measured increments: capsule collections, yards of hand dyed textiles, ninety day lead times, sell through figures, cost of goods sold. Every date in manufacturing can be calculated backwards and forward from a single horizon point: the date that the goods must arrive into the country where they'll be sold. Other than that, nothing else really matters.</blockquote> ➤ well this is devastatingly good

<blockquote>[Self-Saving System Activated! You will be now returned to your original starting position.] Shen Qingqiu dies and gets a second chance and decides to try a different approach.</blockquote> ➤ series consists of: Metagaming Character Optimisation

<blockquote>Outside the Cloud Recesses, rumors spread with delighted fervor, and soon it became common knowledge even among the obediently gossip-free Lan disciples (who, after all, had to descend from the mountain to complete their nighthunts) that Sect Leader Lan was looking for a wife. / Recounting a life lived in absence.</blockquote> ➤ post-canon lxc finding a way to live a long and full life while never really getting over what happened in canon. As the author says, not exactly a happy ending, but a satisfying one.

<blockquote>A generous allowance from his parents or Wei Wuxian in his life: Jiang Cheng would make the same choice a thousand times over, but his grad school stipend is barely enough to support himself, let alone the two of them. An arrangement with an older man might keep his head above water—if he doesn't wade in too deep.</blockquote> ➤ do I think it's the pinnacle of accurate characterisation? no. did I enjoy nearly all of it anyway? apparently! sometimes this kind of thing is just what you need to keep you and your anxiety insomnia company in the wee hours of the night. ➤ Also, jc and nhs are birders!

<blockquote>"So it's a bet?" Jiang Cheng said. "Dance the showcase if you get him, fancy coffee machine if you don't?" Wei Wuxian considered the machine. "Fine. You're on. I want it in red." "Don't start planning your caffeine overdose yet." "It's in the bag," Wei Wuxian said cheerfully. "There's no way they'll match me with someone like Lan Wangji." Teaching Lan Wangji to dance in front of the nation for twelve weeks, how hard can that be? Wei Wuxian is about to find out.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Liu Yuzhuang marries Xiao Jingyan, and gets more than she bargained for. Lin Shu, haunted by both the future and the past, finds again and again that he is loved.</blockquote> ➤ pays attention to the hua genocide

<blockquote>When Wei Ying woke up this morning, he hadn’t expected to learn that Lan Zhan had sex on the regular, Lan Zhan had sex with men on the regular, and Lan Zhan had sex with men on the regular and purportedly wrote about it in a spreadsheet. But learn those things he did, the knowledge seared into his memory with viciously quick speed, instantly becoming one of those things he’d never forget. The only thing he wanted and couldn’t have was to unlearn it.</blockquote> ➤ very good at being exactly the sort of thing it is, for when you're in the mood for it, which is lots of pining and miscommunication angst ➤ series consists of: show me a quiver, give me tonight crossed the world with these empty hands

<blockquote>Mid-Season-One Zuko is held ransom by Chief Hakoda. Ozai's replies to the Water Tribe's demands are A+ Parenting. Hakoda is… deeply concerned, for this son that isn't his, and who might be safer among enemies than with his own father.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Shang Qinghua goes to take a self-indulgent peek at his baby protagonist son and gets a kick to the shrivelled heart for his troubles. He gave up on changing the story years ago! Yet he finds himself helping his protagonist son's adoptive mother anyway. Just this one change won't matter too much, right? One little change leads to more. Shang Qinghua never meant to care, but he becomes invested in making sure that his new family survives the looming plot. With the changes to the world cascading around him, with his position as a traitor pulling him between his sect and a certain ice demon, and with the protagonist growing up so quickly, how is one displaced author meant to ensure that everything turns out alright? A Pre-Canon to Canon Divergence story.</blockquote> ➤ has that pacing problem that some long-long-longfics have where they feel the need to just include EVERYTHING onscreen, but still a very fun fic that I got very invested in

➤ Series starts from the premise of Wen Qing living, and then wanders through a whole bunch of different characters. I forgot to note down anything of note about this series when I read it, but I enjoyed it. ➤ Series consists of: cranes flying west amidst the storms emerging with an unbridled heart their eyes remain clear when autumn leaves fall teach these young ones life and death's joy and grief

<blockquote>Can’t I read stallion novels anymore?! [TN: genre with OP protag & harem] Shen Yuan is reborn into a young man and scum villain destined to die, Shen Qingqiu. But it must be known that the original Shen Qingqiu was sliced alive by his disciple, Luo Binghe, into a human stick! A human stick! Shen Qingqiu’s heart was full herd of grass mud horses running full tilt, yet: “It’s not like I don’t want to hug this main character’s thighs, but who let this fucking man be so black. The revenge that needs to be taken is some thousands of deeds! Why is all the romance that should be going to the women in the plot imposed on him? Why as a scum villain, should he still have to block gun and knife for the protagonist and sacrifice himself? Shen Qingqiu: “…… _(:□)∠)_I think I can still save him one more time.” He wants to prove – even scum villains can live, and live coolly at that! It’s also the story of a small white flower who later became a black flower attacking a scholarly, scum villain type. This is the story of a master and disciple’s everyday unknowing, very strange, dog-blood process of falling in love. It’s also a scum villain’s firsthand account of the male protagonist turning from a small white sheep into an overbearing black king, sort of story……</blockquote>

<blockquote>“It is a well-known fact across the major leagues that one does not smack Lan Wangji’s ass.” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. Everyone smacks everyone’s ass in baseball. It’s how the game is played. Lan Wangji does not get to be exempt from this most sacred of baseball traditions. Wei Wuxian will make sure of that. / Or, a Major League Baseball AU</blockquote> ➤ I loved how many years this fic spans, and how you can see them grow and change and settle into themselves

<blockquote>"You want Wen Ruohan dead," the Patriarch continued idly. "You want his corpse puppets eliminated. You want his halls burned to the ground and his soldiers disemboweled and begging for mercy. Have I about covered it?" He gave another knife-edged smile. "But what will you give me in return?" "We would be willing to offer quite a bit in return for Wen Ruohan's defeat," Lan Xichen admitted. "But I'm afraid we don't know what an immortal such as yourself desires. Please advise us." The Patriarch waved at hand at the front of the tent. "I want Second Young Master Lan." (In which the Sunshot Campaign ends through an arranged marriage to the Yiling Patriarch, and Lan Wangji suffers the mortifying ordeal of falling in love with his own husband.)</blockquote> ➤ I read this ages ago and forgot to bookmark it then....

<blockquote>Wherein Shen Yuan transmigrates into a harem intrigues romance novel (gay edition), Yue Qingyuan really fucks up, Liu Qingge is not suitable for his job, and no one even remotely sees Luo Binghe coming.</blockquote> ➤ main fic is I Wish You Were My Husband, extras are in More Wishes. Introduced me to the fandom! A great deal of fun! At the end of the main fic though, the emotional arcs don't all seem to be resolved (as there's SOMETHING between Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu), and that doesn't get addressed in the extras. But overall: extremely readable and enjoyable!

<blockquote>“Don’t think of it as marriage,” Benny tells her. “Think of it as castling.” Beth raises an eyebrow. “Am I the king or the rook in this analogy?”</blockquote> ➤ I love how well balanced this is between all the different aspects of things going on: the feelings between Beth and Benny, the working out how to make a life together (separate from the feelings), the chess, the simmering sexual attraction, the other people in Beth's life who are important to her, and Beth's understanding of herself. Really good!

<blockquote>Yiling Laozu was one of the biggest characters on the Sunshot LARP field. He made his own faction, raised an army of the dead, and was single-handedly responsible for destroying the yin iron economy. Unfortunately his actions caused no end of problems for the game runners - so after Yiling Laozu’s death, his player Wei Ying was very firmly asked to leave the game. Four years and a change of management later, and Wei Ying is back! Only difference - rather than being let loose on the field again, he’s crewing now and playing a stream of NPC zombies, merchants and diplomats. While he's barred from raising the dead, he still has plenty of time for important out of character shenanigans, including but not limited to avoiding his family, poking electrical wires, corrupting the youth, and bothering Lan Zhan. One year, four events, and a tale of campfires, love and live action roleplaying.</blockquote> ➤ this was so fascinating and fun! A true love letter to larping, it's clear the author is very familiar with it as an activity, and also it was great to see how things were translated from canon in terms of what was IC and what was OC for the folks in this story/in their larp. So great

<blockquote>He can’t get Jin Guangyao’s words out of his head. If he’d only believed in Wei Wuxian, if he’d only been willing to stand up for him, could it all have been avoided?</blockquote> ➤ Time travel fix it, featuring jc for a change! Good stuff