LINKDING

Summary: <blockquote>It’s a little ridiculous, really, the things that make Ming Fan happy. They’re so small. A single word of praise from a teacher; being picked first to shoulder a responsibility; a smile and a touch from Zhao De. It’s painfully obvious how Ming Fan feels about Zhao De, and it always has been. Ming Fan has a paper face, and can’t hide what he feels to save his life. Zhao De has always known. And honestly? He doesn’t particularly care. Or, no; it’s a little funny, actually. To be able to make him flush with happiness or wilt with disappointment with such very little effort, to always have him eating out of his hand and so eager to please. It’s too easy, really, but easy is fun sometimes. Useful, too, when he’s the Head Disciple of Qing Jing now. For as long as that might last. Maybe Zhao De should reward him for making himself so useful? / Zhao De shows Ming Fan a bad good time.</blockquote> ➤ yikes (complimentary) ➤ Ming Fan/OMC, where the OC is another disciple on Qing Jing Peak ➤ it's truly impressively horrible, the pov of this awful bully who manipulates Ming Fan into misery and encourages Ming Fan in all of his own worst bullying tendencies ➤ it's so well and believably done, and so compelling! ➤ mind the author's tags on this one, it means what it says. I enjoyed the fic a lot but it's not a pleasant fic! ➤ 13k words in length

Summary: <blockquote>Eyes first. If I can get the eyes open, I’m good. If not, the meat’s too far gone, which means I have to try again, and I hate fucking trying again. This time’s okay, though. Eyelids roll up surprisingly easy, even if it takes the eyes themselves a minute. That’s fine, though; everybody’s eyes are different, even if nobody but me knows it, because how many eyes do you get to see through in your life? Me, I’ve lost count. The soft jelly settles, the focal centers slowly pull themselves into place. I can hear the pupils contract against the light. Eyes blink once, twice. We’re in business.</blockquote> ➤ content notes for ummmmmmm body horror? body grossness definitely. also, murder, plus sex with weird consent stuff going on. drug use. probably other stuff too. ➤ but it's not, like, horrifying and depressing about any of that! it's remarkably sweet! ➤ an absolutely incredible piece of original fiction about bodyswap/bodysharing that really makes its home in exploring the weirdness of the situation from the inside. What Is Embodiment. How to have a relationship with the body you're in. Bodies have a lot going on! The brain is part of the body. ➤ probably this story isn't for everyone, but if it is for you then you are in for a TREAT. I adored it. ➤ 14k words

Summary: <blockquote>“The Mobei-Jun rises from his throne, eyes glowing white as his voice takes on the timbre of power unique to the reigning Ice Demon King of the Northern Desert. “Prince Mo Bei is declared outcast. You are sentenced to conditional exile according to the traditions of this Court. Prince Mo Bei, you are forbidden from returning to your ancestral lands until you have learned to count to five. Learn to count to claim your rightful throne.” Once upon a time, an arrogant prince was exiled from his kingdom. A kind stranger takes him in. Together they write a new story.</blockquote>

excerpt: <blockquote>DRAMATIS PERSONAE ACHILLES: A young man yet untouched by love or war. PYTHIA: An oracle who sees alien futures. THE CHORUS: #mlm #5k #patrochilles #coffeeshopAU #meta #canon-compliant • • • • SETTING: The adyton at the Temple of Delphi. Smoke rises from a vent in the floor, partially obscuring PYTHIA, who is sitting on a high stool carefully positioned behind the smoke. ACHILLES stands, supplicant. Behind him, the CHORUS looks at their phones.</blockquote>

Summary: <blockquote>“Why are we even here?” Wen Xu groused. “Yeah! That’s right! Why are we here?” Wen Chao immediately chimed, very obviously taking his cues from his elder brother – much to the latter’s irritation, judging by his immediate scowl. Lan Qiren knew that he needed to pick his next words very carefully. With recalcitrant students, a teacher only had a few opportunities to really connect with them. If he allowed them to dismiss him or categorize him as an enemy at this early stage, it would be an incredibly uphill battle to gain enough respect in order to teach them anything, and in this case, given the strength of their background and the fact that this little teaching session was both likely to be short and definitely completely unauthorized, it would quite possibly make it completely impossible to ever get through to them. “You are here,” Lan Qiren said solemnly, each word slow and thoughtful, “because your father is an ass.” (a story of kidnapping and falling in love, reluctantly)</blockquote>

<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>When Luo Binghe is fourteen years old, his shizun suffers a terrible qi deviation and fever that completely changes who he is.</blockquote>

<blockquote>In which Shen Qingqiu, angry and so very alone, decides that if the world will not give him a companion, then he will simply make one. Shen Yuan comes into being knowing very little, but loving every part of it.</blockquote> ➤ sy is a creation of sj's. includes friendship between sy and yqy

<blockquote>Jingyi has his hands up immediately, ready to fire a warning talisman. “Who are you?” “Jingyi, it’s me. It’s Sizhui.” “I don’t know any Sizhui. How do you know my name?” / Something has gone wrong with the world. The worst part is, Sizhui's the only one who realizes it.</blockquote>

<blockquote>When you needed a miracle in the old days, you would walk into the woods, or the sea, or the flat and windswept plains where reality was thin. If you had luck, charm, or raw and spiteful determination, something in the shape of a person would answer you. A bargain would be made. Eventually the thing in the shape of a person would come to collect. But the miracles remained—so long as the bargain was honored. Grey & Tender, LLP offered the classic condition: your heart’s desire in escrow, to be returned if you leave the firm. And of course, you would be given the continual opportunity to make partner, at which point the single miracle would become a drop in the bucket of all the miracles you could create for yourself. It was one of the fairer bargains. It was still a trap: to be transformed would be to become a thing that no longer needed a miracle.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Emperor Luo Binghe goes looking for a Shen Yuan of his own. The one he finds has yet to fully ripen, but Luo Binghe is used to turning adversity into advantage.</blockquote> ➤ note the tags on the fic!

<blockquote>Lan Zhan is—everything. Wei Wuxian looks at him, and he aches. And somewhere near the base of his neck, wrapped around the white bones of his spine, the little hitchhiking ghost whispers: wouldn't it be nice, if we had him all to ourselves? Wouldn't that be nice? That's the crux of it, really. Lotuses bloom for half the year. The sun sets in the west. Wei Wuxian wants Lan Wangji. And the ghost, too, wants Lan Wangji—but it wants much more than Wei Wuxian is willing to take. / Wei Wuxian picks up a parasite on his travels. It wouldn't be such a problem if it didn't listen to him so much.</blockquote> ➤ I love that lqr is who is able to help in the end!

<blockquote>A week before the Spring Hunt, Prince Yu pays a visit to the Su Residence. "I wondered if we might have an honest conversation."</blockquote>

<blockquote>Lan Wangji had long since stopped thinking of Wei Wuxian's body as Mo Xuanyu's. He grew used to all the ways it was different and the same from the last. But slowly, surely, now that they were comfortable, Wei Wuxian's face had begun to change again. The lines of his jaw became a slightly smudged drawing. Not all together unfamiliar, just enough that Lan Wangji second-guessed his own memory. There was one night Lan Wangji came home to find Wei Wuxian's eyes had changed color. He woke one morning and was taller, his silhouette stretching and growing like a shadow cast against the wall. His smile was the same. The way he pouted, and slept in, the way he kissed. His terrible jokes. Lan Wangji would get used to a new face too if the husband was still the same. / Or, the one where Wei Wuxian's face begins to change to look like his original body. It isn't easy on anyone. But it isn't so bad, either.</blockquote> ➤ The one where wwx's post-resurrection body slowly changes from mxy's to wwx's

<blockquote>Jin Guangyao hopes, he tells Jiang Wanyin with the lightest of touches to his elbow, that Jiang Wanyin will not hesitate to be a friend as well as a guest in his home. To avail himself of whatever he likes that belongs to Jin Guangyao while he is under this roof. Jiang Wanyin is mildly bemused by the odd parting remark. He does not mark it as he would if he knew the things Lan Xichen knows. Lan Xichen understands exactly what Jin Guangyao is offering. Jin Guangyao’s eyes on him make certain that he does.</blockquote>

<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> 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>The re-lived day is one of the strangest mysteries of the Jedi: a passage in a Jedi's life when the Force knots Time itself around their individual consciousness, allowing them to revise and repeat their actions until harmony with the Force is achieved. (Standalone story, see notes for series explanation.)</blockquote> ➤ I enjoy how going through a time loop is a normal Jedi thing in the world of this fic

<blockquote>The Enterprise is preparing for a 2-year refit between missions. Kirk has a proposal.</blockquote> ➤ Not sure how to tag this one! It's about a committed life partnership even though Kirk is straight -- not something commonly depicted in fiction

<blockquote>Enabran Tain has retired, and Garak has been second-in-command of the Obsidian Order for over three years. His next assignment is the interrogation of Cardassia’s newest detainee, a Federation doctor charged with espionage. AU in which Garak was never exiled. Set during early season 3.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Julian has no soulmark. He knows what that must mean, and he's learned to accept it. Meeting Garak, getting to know him, is almost enough to make him think—but it's not possible. Garak must have a soulmate, and there's simply no way it could be Julian. Right? (Or: five times Julian thought he was alone, plus the time he realized he'd been wrong all along.)</blockquote>

➤ backstory between Cameron Mitchell and John Sheppard in Afghanistan

<blockquote>Victor used to glance in the windows of marque studios and look at the flash on the walls sometimes, with curiosity more than longing. What would it be like to feel someone else’s soul? There are songs about it on the radio. Romantic. In his actual life, it’s always Yakov saying, “get over yourself, get more sleep, stop daydreaming on the ice.” Or it was.</blockquote>

<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>- Benton Fraser has a dog. (Or wolf. Or wolf-dog.) - Benton Fraser’s dog is Diefenbaker. He’s deaf (sometimes), and freakishly smart, and maybe-probably-doesn’t-but-maybe talks back. - That’s Fraser. That’s who Fraser is. He’s the guy with the wolf (dog). And that hasn't changed since 1981.</blockquote> ➤ HOLY FUCK

<blockquote>Detained far from where he should be by random chance, Obi-Wan meets an unusual slave.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Five ways Ges shows his love.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Count Paris returns to Verona and finds everything tiresomely unchanged—with the exception of one intriguingly grown-up Tybalt Capulet. Pre-canon.</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>The Prime Minister makes a visit to Komarr while Galeni is posted there, and the political becomes personal for them both.</blockquote>