LINKDING

<blockquote>"Jyn talked herself into a corner with her grandma," Han explained. "Now she needs a fake boyfriend for Christmas." "Why doesn't Cassian do it?" Luke asked, and Jyn scowled at him. [In which Jyn, in an attempt to get her mother's overbearing, gossipy, and traditional family off her back for one freaking Christmas, conscripts Cassian to join her as her (fake) boyfriend for the whole week in England. Shamelessly, wildly, gleefully AU.]</blockquote> ➤ Feels more like origfic bc it's so far divorced from canon, but I enjoyed it regardless

<blockquote>The war is over and Bodhi Rook has been away from Jedha for too long. It’s time to go home. He winds up with an unexpected passenger. A love story between two people and a place, about all the different meanings of home.</blockquote> ➤ (and then a sequel about finding & rescuing Rey, and then a meta post describing the events that led to this au) ➤ Series consists of: Stone and Sand Different Deserts For Those That Read Stone and Sand

<blockquote>The war is over, and nobody won. With the galaxy on the verge of destruction, Poe Dameron hatches a desperate plan—go back in time. But Poe's plan quickly goes awry, and he finds himself on the run from local authorities. The only plan to keep him safe is…extreme, to say the least. / "Can't get you citizenship documents," the man muttered, his voice clearer now that it wasn't muffled by the scarf. Poe took a deep breath and forced himself to think. He looked back at his would-be rescuer. Who was shoving the scarf back from the top his head, revealing a face that Poe knew. That lots of people knew. Kriff, that everyone knew, trillions upon trillions of sapients in the galaxy would recognize that face. Luke Skywalker—as fresh-faced and young as the day he became the successful destroyer of the Death Star—was standing in front of him. Fuck. "Need a land grant to get a moisture farmer licence, can't even get you a travel visa without citizenship documents…Hm," the legend said, sighing. "Yeah. I think we're going to have to get married." </blockquote> ➤ I loved this fic so much that I read it twice in one week despite its length

<blockquote>Like most Republic citizens, the Naberries have never spent much time thinking about the Jedi. But that changes with the birth of their daughter Ilaré. (Or, the AU where the third Naberrie daughter is a Jedi, Padmé offers Naboo as a sanctuary for runaway slaves, Shmi is a conductor on the Tatooine freedom trail, and Anakin jump starts a reformation. Or maybe a heresy. It all depends on your point of view.)</blockquote> ➤ wip through part 17 so far

<blockquote>"There's going to be an attack on the Temple. Tomorrow, at eleven hundred hours. A bomb in the hangar bay." Barriss Offee had no idea what fate she averted for herself or her friend Ahsoka Tano when she stopped her planned attack on the Jedi Temple before it started. But her actions will still have far-reaching consequences—for both of them.</blockquote> ➤ I am in AGONIES over this fic's abandoned state. It's so good and I care so much and it ends on the WORST cliffhanger!

<blockquote>It’s a new year, a new semester. Looking out across the classroom, taking in the bright-eyed students in their winter gear, the crowded desks, the aisles choked with backpacks and bags, Luke can’t help but feel that it’s going to be a good year. “Welcome to Transformative Journeys: Pilgrimage and Practice in Global Buddhisms,” he says, with a smile. “I’m Professor Amidala-Lars."</blockquote> ➤ OH NO I AM CHARMED ➤ (Poe is the new hire at the university where Luke teaches, and Rey is a neighbourhood foster kid Luke's taken under his wing) ➤ I had a lot of feelings about being in religious studies back in my university days and how I miss it. But also just a good fic! ➤ I did feel though that the fic went on too long beyond a natural end point into nothing but fluff that wasn't going anywhere new.

<blockquote>The Sith Lord Darth Vader lived his life. He probably didn't live it well, but he lived it as well as he knew how. At the end there, he'd even managed to woman up and kill Sidious. But he was dying, and at peace with the past. The past wasn't at peace with him.</blockquote> ➤ I always enjoy the time-travel fix-it trope, and this one doesn't disappoint. It does get a little boring eventually because it spends so much time on its ideas of what Dark and Light really mean (though its ideas are interesting!), but I enjoy a great deal about this fic, including the way that Anakin and Padme have to actually WORK on their relationship

<blockquote>Following the battle of Endor, the Alliance to Restore the Republic took a single prisoner from the attack on the Death Star. Sequestered aboard a lone ship with a skeleton crew, that prisoner sits and waits for what fate will bring him, his very existence kept a closely guarded secret. Desperately trying to work out what to do with him, the Rebel leaders send a lone analyst to speak with him, to take a record of his side of the story. They want to be able to judge him when the time is right. But who exactly is it they would be judging? And why exactly did he help destroy the galaxy - and then help save it? AU, following on from an alternate ending for Return of the Jedi.</blockquote> ➤ I rather liked the OC pov character. The best part was the first half with the viewpoint character's interviewing of Darth Vader ➤ but the rest of the fic was worth reading too. And I liked the choice of how/where to end it. ➤ And I liked that in general the fic was actually engaging with the question of how to deal with someone who has done truly awful things to a lot of people but has also repented in some way or another. ➤ Also: the stuff about Vader's feelings about Luke being basically obsession were like, OH, YES OF COURSE, EVERYTHING MAKES SENSE NOW (cf Anakin's feelings about Padme)

<blockquote>Clinic, gunshot, assassination... Han turned his head slowly to take stock. So Luke and his Force had pulled him back from death’s doorstep, but there was a whole lot more going on. A strange tension rose up his chest and clogged with troubled swirls beneath his injury. It felt as if he was looking at Luke for the first time. A study in bronzed light, close enough to burn.</blockquote>

<blockquote>A series of one-shots set in a universe where Vader turned double agent for the Rebellion about three years after ROTS, and Leia is now his primary contact with the Rebellion.</blockquote> ➤ I was surprised by how into this fic I was! Because I am the most predictable person, though, my favourite thing is the slave folk stories from Tatooine about the trickster figure Ekkreth. But really everything is great. ➤ 20 parts as of last checking (Feb 2020, but last updated in 2017): Shape-Changer Words in the Heart (Words in the Heart) Cannot Be Taken The Slave Who Makes Free Decryption Codes A Larger World The Emperor's Speech Optimal Functioning Trickster Steals the Moon Flowers for the Emperor Bedrock The Only Verdict Aftermath Trophies Children of the Force Empire Day The Unstolen Child Rocks and Water Sometimes as Many as Seven Apology Accepted

<blockquote>"I heard FN-2187 was a Stormtrooper." -- Finn sparks a revolution.</blockquote>

<blockquote>Poe dreams of a blue-green tree.</blockquote> ➤ (Edit in 2019: I don't love this fic nearly so well as I used to. Still a lot I like about it but some stuff about the main relationship doesn't work for me anymore which gets in the way of my enjoyment of the whole thing. I'm leaving all my comments below as a record of my initial response but no longer agree with everything I said.) ➤ so this fic has CONSUMED me for the last week or so, since I was weak and broke down and started reading it before it was finished. Well. It's finished now! And it is SO GOOD. ➤ It takes place between original trilogy and new movie, from the pov of Poe from childhood to shortly before VII starts. And it's good on so many levels! ➤ For one thing: makes sense of the galactic political situation. ➤ For another: the characterizations of Poe and Luke, and the relationship as it develops between them. ➤ For another: it's a story that's deeply situated in a large cast of characters who are all important and have complicated relationships with each other. ➤ And I really appreciate that for a story that starts with two characters meeting as adult and child, it works really hard at getting them to a place of being as equal as possible when one of them is Luke Skywalker, Mythic Saviour of the Galaxy. ➤ And basically I had SO MANY FEELINGS. Damnit. I didn't want to get this invested! BUT HERE I AM. What a good. ➤ (possibly the meanest thing in this entire fic was introducing us to the Luke's Jedi Academy students such as to get us thoroughly attached to them, so that we will be heartbroken when Kylo Ren eventually kills them, as he does.)