#chancecraz

Every year, my fellow fanfic writers blow me away with their talent, their creativity, and their heart. I’m compiling a list to share a few of the fics I read (or reread) this year and would recommend -- by no means an exhaustive list of the many talented writers and wonderful stories, and not exclusively stories that came out or updated this year, but a place to start. Because I have a lot to say, I’ll be sharing these in multiple posts.

Fic Recs Part I: Leia Organa Has Become Unstuck in Time

One of my favorite tropes, I’m learning, is “Leia travels to the past -- either on purpose or by accident -- and tries her damnedest to fix things, while the people she meets inevitably fall in love with her and try to get her to let others take care of her for a change / make her take care of herself for at least ten minutes. With varying amounts of success.”

Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by @chancecraz: TFA-era Leia Organa goes to sleep the night of Han’s death and wakes up in her 19-year-old body, just as 19-year-old Leia is being transported to the Death Star from the Tantive IV. *Stefon voice* This fic has everything: time travel, angst, humor, romance, Force shenanigans, unlikely friendships and surprising allies, scary parents, political intrigue, BAMF Leia Organa, ride-or-die Han Solo falling in love with Leia all over again, Bail and Breha Organa being awesome (and alive!), Luke educating others on Tatooine culture, Leia and Obi-Wan getting drunk together, dreamscape discussions between Leia and Vader, discussions of the clones and the Jedi, considerations of the fall of the Republic and the neglect of the Outer Rim, droids that make me cry, and just beautiful, complex writing throughout. It is a bit of a commitment (each chapter is often novella length or longer), has a fair amount of angst, and does include a timeline in which at least the TFA part of the sequels happened, but it’s well worth it.

The Don’t Look Back series (Like Fire in Our Bones, Blood of Our Father, and Duty Bound are the primary stories) by @this-acuteneurosis: Not long after ROTJ, Leia is grieving, having just lost Han, Luke, Chewie, and the droids while they were on a mission for the New Republic. Anakin Skywalker’s Force Ghost offers Leia a chance to go back in time to the person who could help her fix it all: a pre-AOTC Shmi Skywalker. When Leia and Shmi reconnect with Padmé on their way to Coruscant, they become part of refugee resettlement, political intrigue, Jedi business, clone rights, and much more. Includes some wonderful relationship-building with Obi-Wan and Anakin, Leia learning to deal with her power in the Force, Leia dealing with grief (or refusing to deal with grief, as the case may be), Leia trying to wend her way past Palpatine’s machinations, Threepio being important to the plot, some surprise help from Force Ghosts, Anakin getting some much-needed support, and Leia sassing a Sith Lord. Oh, and at some point you may find yourself shipping Leia and Obi-Wan (the OWK series is not canon in this story, just FYI). If you love Shmi or Padmé and the handmaidens, you will especially enjoy this series. The most recent fic, Duty Bound, is currently updating on a regular basis, but you should start from the beginning.

Shifting Sands by @chancecraz: TFA-era Leia is exploring a Force cave with Luke and ends up thrown back into TPM-era Mos Espa, where she meets Anakin and Shmi Skywalker prior to Padmé and Qui-Gon’s arrival. Told from different characters’ points of view, we see how Leia’s intervention with the two people she calls Old Man and Grandmother alters the prequel timeline and begins to change the Jedi’s approach to Anakin, their approach to the reemergence of the Sith, and Leia’s relationship with her own Force powers. Features wonderful characterization and perspectives from Mace Windu, Padmé Amidala, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and (coming up in the next chapter) Shmi Skywalker herself.

CHANCE!!! How dare you make me cry at my desk! This is absolutely the sweetest compliment I have ever received about my writing.

Oh, I'm all flustered now! Hope is *necessary* in fiction - I 100% believe that. I had no idea it came through so clearly but I'm *glad it does* We could all use a little more hope, I think.

If you ever want to see me get on a soapbox on the necessity of hope, ask me about why I hate Frank Miller.

So I have read Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns (and also a bunch of other stuff by @chancecraz, very good stories do recommend). I'll be honest it's a little weird trying to think about how a character someone else is writing would react to a character I'm writing.

I suppose at a base level I kind of assume both of them (after dubiously consenting to hear each other out), would look at the other and go, "Better you than me." Because they've got enough on their plates already. They don't need more of this Force nonsense.

I suspect DLB Leia would try and get as many details about the Clone Wars from Queens Leia as she could, which would ironically backfire because chancecraz uses a lot more canon than I do (to great effect), so a bunch of stuff Queens Leia knows will never apply to DLB Leia.

They'd have some wild discussions about Anakin/Vader, if they had time.

I also assume DLB Leia would probably be jealous of Queens Leia, at least at first. Queens Leia is much older, and so when she traveled so far back in time, she got the family she grew up with back (minus her kid). DLB Leia got a whole new family (who she does love), but seeing someone else get all the things that DLB Leia will never have again would definitely sting. Especially since in order for DLB Leia to save the galaxy, she's working under the (correct) assumption it will come at the cost of the entire world that she knew.

Oh dear, that’s quite a question! I have quite a list of the favorite fics I’ve ever read because I’ve been involved with a myriad of fandoms over the years, so I could never possibly pick one. I’ll be more than happy to share a few though!

Star Wars:

My absolute favorite Star Wars fic (that I can think of right now) is Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by chancecraz! Not only is it a time travel AU, which is one of my favorite tropes, but it’s also Hanleia.

Pirates of the Caribbean:

This is a really hard one because my personal favorite story I’ve ever wrote is from this fandom, but I also have personal favorites that I’ve ever read. There are MANY stories that I wish I could put in this post, but I’ll only choose one. My favorite to share here is Never Doubt I Love by vasilysa! One of the first longer stories I ever read and fell in love with right away.

And I suppose sharing my own favorite fic that I wrote myself wouldn’t go amiss, so I would have to say that it’s A Chance at Redemption. A post-AWE AU where a certain lovely, complicated Admiral doesn’t die defending the love of his life from pirates.

Marvel:

Hands down, my favorite Marvel fic of all time is Quo Vadis? by @peonymoss! It’s a detailed, beautifully researched and written story that I will never get enough of.

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Leia Organa & Anakin Skywalker, Leia Organa & Shmi Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Leia Organa Characters: Leia Organa, Anakin Skywalker, Shmi Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, Qui-Gon Jinn, Jar Jar Binks, R2-D2 (Star Wars), C-3PO (Star Wars), Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sheev Palpatine, Sabé (Star Wars), Rabé (Star Wars), Eirtaé (Star Wars), Quarsh Panaka, Yoda (Star Wars), Jedi Council Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It Summary:

Oh, Jedi, for sure. It speaks to my obsession with this universe that I’ve actually thought out the bare bones of a plan to restart the Jedi Order in the wake of RotJ that would work something like Legends’ New Jedi Order but with less involvement with the current galactic government. (Non-profit status? Schools. Jedi Knight is not an end goal but an option. Two Knights on the council, two Padawans, and two laypeople for transparency, and only six Masters.)

Back From the Future: Episode VI The Clone Wars by Ariel_Sojourner In which Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader travel back in time together to the Clone Wars era, have amazing adventures, and save the galaxy.

Of Queens, Knights, and Pawns by chancecraz I went to sleep on the worst day of my life and woke to find myself in the past on the second worst day of my life.  As experiences go, I don’t recommend it.