recs and links

Bucky, surviving on his own pre-CACW. Oh my heart. *GROSS SOBBING*

Leia and Rey finding family in each other. GROSS SOBBING. This is everything I want for their relationship. Oh my heart.

13 postscripts Steve could have written on the back of his letter to Tony. Exactly what it says on the tin. Oh Steve. Oh my heart.

Rey accidentally time travels and meets young Anakin. Oh my heart.

CA:CW alternate ending. What if Steve had taken Bucky to Pepper for help? Pepper, being sharp, clear-eyed, and pragmatic in the wake of CACW. Yes, good.

It's mainly that she never expected to live this long. She has a contingency plan for everything except, as it turns out, surviving past her twenties. And it keeps surprising her, the way that aging catches her off guard in small ways. It's not the big things -- those she expects, can prepare for. But she never anticipated how differently she'd think about things at thirty than at twenty; she never understood how a lifetime builds up, in ways that can't be undone. Everything she's done, every person she's loved or lost leaves a trace like scar tissue. It drags at her like half-welcome, half-unwanted luggage that she has to carry around with her everywhere, making it harder than it used to be to slip in and out of her many chameleon skins. Habits and likes and dislikes, old friends and old enemies weigh her down. Natasha, at the end of CACW, pragmatic as always.

Five times Leia spent the night with Han. Lovely. (though personally I can't believe Leia wasn't trained to shoot before she went off to Coruscant to be a senator.)

Rey's a fast learner. This is a really lovely look at what and how she learns. Oh heart.

It's not Clint's first time in prison, but it might be the most annoying time. Hee! CACW spoilers.

Lovely and joyful coda to TRK. Could use a beta pass, though.

Lovely domestic moments for Adam and Ronan post-TRK. (spoilers, obv.)

Bucky has a groundhog day experience, and his day resets every time Steve dies, so he's just going to have to figure out how to stop Steve from dying. Oh Bucky.

Pepper has some important news for Tony. CACW spoilers. Ha, yes, this.

Scott does his best to keep morale up. Aw heart. Major CACW spoilers.

She and Finn are still really just learning how to be people who know how to be around people, and maybe that’s part of what makes it work. The fact that they have each other to ask questions, and try to sort it all out together. And maybe neither of them would even be offended if Poe found them just a little bit ridiculous. Like when they make it their mission to try and rank every single dessert served in the mess, or when Rey grabs Poe’s helmet in the middle of a conversation and pulls it on without comment, only to grin manically at him. Or the way that Finn has to sometimes consciously stop himself in the middle of a sentence, when he’s about to remind them about the rules. But the best part is that Poe never does find them ridiculous, and even makes a point of indulging them whenever possible. Rey catalogues the things that are hers. Lovely.

Blue and Ronan grieve in their own way, post-TRK.

I don’t want to be anyone’s possession, he thought, testing, but this did not feel like ownership. This felt like belonging. A distinction Adam once had not understood, but which Ronan had always known. And now he was trying to make Adam a part of the place Ronan had always belonged. Lovely, quiet story of Adam moving into the Barns with Ronan post-TRK. Oh heart.

Lovely, melancholy Natasha POV on the events of CATWS, featuring some hot and achy Steve/Natasha.

Lovely bit of Finn/Rey/Poe from Finn's POV.

Sweet, awkward glimpses of the Cheng/Sargent/Gansey road trip. Aw heart. (though I think the HP-matching is off a generation. IJS.)

Steve and Bucky, finding equilibrium. Also, seriously hot metal arm porn.

Some excellent backstory for George.

But he was on his feet faster than she knew, even off his game like this, so that when he caught a hold of her and called her Natalia in that tender urgent voice she wasn’t ready, wasn’t ready at all. She could love Bucky Barnes if she let herself. She was halfway there already. She’d never really stopped loving the Soldier. It hadn’t exactly been the sort of situation where you got closure and moved on like normal people; maybe in a few more years, or if he’d never come back. The jet was spinning, and he was so warm behind her, and it hurt, everything hurt all the damn time, like a muscle she could never relax, and she didn’t know how to make it stop. Achingly lovely Bucky/Natasha.

Sequel to Sun in Chains (previously recced); Luke and Vader face the Emperor on Tatooine (RotJ AU). Some good Luke stuff here.

Finn and Rey get high on some space weed and have some Force-enhanced sex. This is both sweet and hot, with a hilarious end note. And there's a sequel: http://archiveofourown.org/works/6598819 i heard (he's got a weak spot for you), where they loop Poe into their shenanigans.

Barriss comes to Malachor in search of Ahsoka. Lovely.

Lovely look at Princess Leia.

Lovely story (with illustrations) where Steve decides to stay in paradise and fade away but Thor's not having with that, so they track down Bucky to go and save him.

Bucky goes back to the Alps to try and find the remnants of himself, and Sam goes along for the ride. Things do not go smoothly. Oh Bucky. Sigh.

Fantastic look at how Barriss ends up the way she does, and how she has sort of the opposite problem from Anakin. With some lovely bits of Snips and Skyguy just to make it extra heartbreaking.