recs and links

Wistfully sweet Wash/Zoe backstory.

Beru has spent enough time with her sister’s children to know that some babies are difficult. But the way Luke cries isn’t the same as the others she’s known. He doesn’t scream loud enough to pierce her eardrums, he doesn’t rage or whine when he is hungry or his diaper needs changing. The med-droid at Anchorhead says he is in perfect health. But still, Luke cries on and on with tiny, heartbreaking sobs. “What could he possibly want?” Owen asks her one morning, his voice heavy with frustration. “I don’t know,” Beru says, because she thinks that Owen will scoff if she suggests that Luke is grieving. He would be right, too, Beru thinks -- how could an infant barely a month old be aware of all that he has lost? Lovely look at Beru during Luke's infancy.

"Do you ever meditate?" "Not really," she says. She's always preferred to be active, that sort of concentrated reflection isn't for her. "You are very like your father," Kenobi says. People frequently compare her to Bail, and Leia feels a warm glow every time it happens, but this doesn't quite feel like a compliment and Leia frowns. "Meditation can help you," he says. Leia accompanies the droids to the surface of Tatooine and meets Ben Kenobi, and his young friend, Luke. Aw heart.

There's a long moment, and later Ezra knows it's a moment where he could have given in to sorrows and angers he's been carrying since he was seven years old. But he can sense the Force in Luke, can sense it like a beacon. He sees the honest, worried confusion on his open face and in his clear eyes. He's not a Sith or another servant of the Dark Side. He's a lonely kid who lost his family and got a lucky shot at the Death Star. Ezra doesn't think much of the Rebellion's new hero, but then he gets to know him a little. Oh boys.

“No, seriously, Princess. This would be a lot easier for both of us if you’d get the chip off your shoulder.” And what sort of help do you imagine I need from you? Leia bit back the tart reply. Her mother would say she was being snotty. Because she was be snotty, and prickly, and defensive -- all her character flaws, wrapped up in one neat package. “What sort of help do you have in mind?” she managed. Not civil, exactly, but she could do worse. Had done worse. Many times. Han shrugged. “I don’t know. Whatever you need.” Han and Leia in the early days after Yavin. Oh my heart.

Poe and BB-8 have a conversation. Oh heart.

Bucky somehow ends up in a First Order cell. Luckily, Poe and Finn are locked up next door. Oh heart.

Strike and Robin exchange Christmas gifts. Lovely.

Peter was different than Johnny had imagined he’d be, with them together, whenever Johnny had guiltily let himself imagine it. He was goofy. A little ridiculous. Stupidly romantic. It had been so long since Johnny had had this, and never with the sheer intensity Peter poured into it. Johnny didn’t know why he was surprised; everything about Peter was like someone had turned the knob up to eleven. All the complaining he did as Peter pulled him to his feet was a bad cover for how much he loved it. Wistfully sweet Johnny/Peter.

Luke and Vader travel back in time to the Clone Wars era and end up fixing everything. all the things!

The Resistance honors its dead. Lovely.

oh no clone feels

the old and new trios. *sobs*

In the thick of one of the best debut seasons the NHL has ever seen, Providence Falconers rookie and former hockey child prodigy Jack Zimmermann is proving that second chances make all the difference. We talked to the Falconers’ number one to find out what makes a successful comeback. --- a series of revealing interviews in which jack breaks his press silence (with a definite agenda). Lovely story about Jack's coming out told via magazine articles, with art included.

“Did you lose your nerve?” the monk asked cheerfully. “My nerve?” Baze said, which was a surprise as he meant to tell the man to leave. “You were staring so hard I assumed you were working up the courage to come speak to me. I am quite intimidating, I know, but I can assure you I'm very open to being chatted up by handsome men.” “I wasn’t—you’re blind,” said Baze, startled, taking in the pale blue sweep of the monk’s eyes. The man opened in his mouth in exaggerated surprise. “Am I? And all this time I thought the universe was just poorly lit. Thank you, sir, for enlightening me.” “That was a stupid thing to say,” Baze admitted, and the monk grinned wide, showing too much gum. “It was.” He cocked his head to the side. “I was hoping to employ your assistance, actually. It’s very hard being blind, you know.” “And yet you seemed to be managing quite well.” This is both hilarious and lovely, with Baze and Chirrut meeting after the Republic falls, and falling in love on a space road trip. Oh my heart.

Each day they choose each other. They’re the only ones who know what it’s like, to be both young and old, to be so strong and so tired, they’re the only ones who know who they used to be, back in Brooklyn, before. Lovely introspective Steve/Bucky. *sobs* #epic tragic century long love story #till the end of the line They’ve loved each other longer than most people they know have been alive.

Sanders has set himself up as the national face of progressivism, openly stating that his “movement” is the future of a party to which he does not belong, and withholding his endorsement from Democratic candidates he believes are not adequately progressive. Yet Sanders has, multiple times, endorsed anti-choice candidates because they otherwise support his agenda of economic justice. Here’s why this is problematic: Women cannot access economic justice without full reproductive rights. Economic justice is impossible for women without being able to decide when, or whether, to have children. Lack of access to reproductive health care can put women into poverty and keep them there. Someone claiming they are in favor of economic justice while actively voting against reproductive rights is saying that economic justice only matters for men. [...] You cannot create economic justice for all without addressing systemic racism; you cannot create economic justice for all without addressing systemic discrimination against LGBTQ people; you cannot create economic justice for all without addressing systemic ableism. And you cannot create economic justice for all without addressing reproductive rights.

Anakin is Knighted and decides to give his Padawan braid to Padme instead of to Obi-Wan after his Knighting. Then he learns that there's a lot more meaning to that Tradition than he had realized but is it too late to fix things with Obi-Wan? in which Anakin means well but fucks up and tries to fix it. Oh heart.

other people's recs - celestial navigation is on the list!!!

Ford bonds with some of the boys. Oh heart.

When Bitty's coming out to his parents doesn't go well, Jack calls Alicia in for help. This is so lovely.

"You watch out," said Chirrut. "I'm going to prove it. The Force is with you, Baze." This was a perfectly conventional thing for one novitiate to say to another, by way of praise or encouragement. It was typical of Chirrut that he should have made it weird. Baze might not be the most insightful person in the world, and he wasn't inclined to detect admiration where it didn't exist. But it was clear even to him that Chirrut's childhood attachment had developed into a raging crush. Baze had had crushes himself. It was natural. Chirrut was being bizarre about his, but perhaps that was only what one should expect from Chirrut. Really lovely backstory for Baze and Chirrut.

“Security?” they both say at once, in the same snarky sort of tone that would probably piss me off if I wasn’t from California, and Barton gives the Parker kid a little wink and a slap on the arm. Like the kid said something fiendishly clever and funny and Barton just found his soulmate or something. I explain to them about Scott and the job – more about Scott than about the job, ‘cause Scott and I were in jail together and so were Scott and Hawkeye, which makes us practically cousins. Barton seems to agree and offers me a slice of pizza. Luis gets a job as a security guard at Stark Tower. Hee! (Though why Domino's? Nobody in NYC would admit to eating Domino's.)

“I can hear you thinking,” Baze says. “An old man’s melancholy,” Chirrut says. “I’m allowed that sometimes.” Chirrut’s fingers are still on Baze’s face, so he feels it when Baze opens his eyes. “Tell me.” “I would wish you a happier life.” “And I would wish you eyes that work again,” Baze says. “But then you wouldn’t be you, and I wouldn’t love you, and then what would I do?” “Be less stressed, I’d wager.” “Ugh.” Baze throws an arm around Chirrut, pulling him tight for an impressive hug. Chirrut presses his face against Baze’s neck, and sighs when Baze strokes a large palm down the back of Chirrut’s head. “I know you didn’t mean that.” “I didn’t mean that,” Chirrut agrees. “We keep each other safe.” “Oh, we now?” Baze says with a laugh. “Not the Force?” Chirrut ignores the tease, for he’d rather to move his mouth up Baze’s neck, over the edges of his beard, to find his mouth. Baze kisses him back, softly at first, and then not. Baze and Chirrut in their brief time on Yavin IV. Oh heart.

I gave him everything I could. Your son. He will always be yours, Tuney, but he has grown in my house. And maybe it wasn't enough, what we tried to do, what we tried to be, but we love him, and he loves us, Tuney. I didn't steal anything from you. I gave it. I would've given you everything I had, if you had just let me. I gave him everything I had. That is what you do, when a little boy comes into your life with nothing but himself. You give him a home. AU where Dudley grows up with the Potters. *sob*

AU in which Satine lives, and so Obi-Wan goes to Mandalore after RotS. Oh my heart.

Steve often puts his fingertips on your collarbone. Your scapula. On the little white dimples where the arm was screwed into your bones. He's always noticing the differences between your serums. You don't heal as fast as Steve, but you have more endurance. He's faster than you. You're more flexible. But this: you know this hurts him. That you scar. That they gave you scars. That you gave yourself scars, fixing what they did. You don't think he'll ever stop being angry about that. He'd sooner stop breathing. Sometimes, you think, if Steve ever stopped eating, the serum might sustain him on anger alone. Lovely sequel to "through smoke, solid ground" (previously recced), in which Bucky is a few years on in his recovery, but challenges persist.

[...] Two girls ride ruthlessly Beside one another—one filthy as a story, the other filthy As a storyteller. One girl might leave a trail of crumbs Behind her. One might leave a line of poured-out gasoline. Old evening air the way warm soda tastes like a hangover, A long drive in July. I got plenty of time. You got light in your eyes. [...]

“But the federation tried to kill the negotiators and invaded, taking Queen Amidala captive. They demanded her surrender, but she refused. They threatened her with bloodshed unless she signed their treaty, but she would not. They tried every trick to make her give in, but she persisted.” “Because she was brave?” “Because she was brave.” (brave, courageous, determined, foolhardy, reckless padmé. queen of our hearts, sister of our soul. oh why did you always rush ahead of us? you who would give anything to protect us, why would you not let us do the same? foolish, wonderful, lost padmé.) on tumblr: https://lurkingcrow.tumblr.com/post/159083296419/have-some-handmaiden-feels

In anticipation of their separation they pass the rest of the night together in accordance with only their own traditions and personal oaths. They speak their prayers into kisses, setting lips to skin like scripture to page. Passion, Attachment, and Emotion - instead of obstacles they are the walls behind which they can take cover in a galaxy rumbling with threat of war. So long as they have each other they know peace and sustenance. Despite what the masters of the Whills may think, their dedication to the Force is not obstructed by their partnership, but in fact magnified between them. What better cause is there to serve a higher power than it’s promise to bind all things now in the hereafter, them to each other most of all? Really lovely look at Baze and Chirrut from Chirrut's POV, through the end of the Clone Wars.