#joybirdsworks

Oh, thanks for sending this to me! Though, I’m finding it difficult to get the list down to five favorites simply because I always interpret “favorite” to mean “favorite now and forever” for some reason, and I think my opinion shifts sometimes. So, I’ll just say these are my current favorites, I guess?

Annnnnyway, I feel like I stick Just Tauntauns on these sorts of lists all the time because it’s the fic where the gap between my personal appreciation of it and the readers’ appreciation is the largest. It’s a silly fic, but kind of sweet, and I really like how it turned out. Terrible Taste and In Their Absence are both shorter vignettes that I really like.

Yay, loving the self-love here! (And thank you to @walkawaytall and @onwardintolight who put this in my inbox as well.)

Picking five favorite fics I’ve written is tough because on last count I’ve written 80 different fics and I’m proud of different ones for different reasons. But I will do my best (and I’ll be chatty about it).

Epic Love (rated T, Han/Leia, sequel trilogy fix-it)

I’m one of those people who originally loved TFA (mostly because of Rey and Finn and Poe) but the more I thought about it, loved it less and couldn’t understand why they had to break everyone apart and undo most of the growth in the Original Trilogy. So I came up with the idea of the movie not actually being the whole story and decided that no, in fact Han and Leia never broke up, and Han and Luke never abandoned Leia, and Han and Leia didn’t have EmoMcPatricide as their only child, because there had to be a damned good reason for them to be scattered to the four winds instead of together competing for who could make the worst dad jokes at the cookout while fighting fascism on the side. Also why would you waste all that good Finn-former-stormtrooper-now-Jedi energy and that Rey-desert-kid-discovering-the-Force goodness and that Poe pilot-breaking-every-heart-in-a-twelve-parsec-radius and do nothing with it? Ridiculous. So I wrote my own version of what really happened during TFA and this is it.

Tear Down the Walls (rated T, Han/Leia, rebellion-era fic)

I love writing Han and Leia who are attracted to each other not only because of their looks and their chemistry, but because they make an amazing team. Giving them both a bit of a competence kink for each other and writing some banter is especially fun. This one was written for @yoyomarules for the 2021 HanLeia holiday exchange and incorporates plenty of all these things (plus some nods to her love of the Leverage TV series) in a story about ringing in the new year on various planets.

The Book of the Lovers (rated T, Han/Leia, post-ESB fic)

The time after the end of The Empire Strikes Back is a particularly interesting time to me. Leia and Han have gotten together, but he’s been frozen in carbonite and shipped off to Jabba, Luke is one big ball of trauma thanks to the Vader reveal and the missing hand, and so much is uncertain. This one sort of meanders through Leia’s grief at losing Han (and a lot of that grief she never fully got to experience post-Alderaan), her memories of time with Han on the way to Bespin, and the leadup to her and Chewie heading to Jabba’s, using a set of poems and a holofilm and a story to tie things all together. Written for @graciecatfamilyband for the 2020 HanLeia holiday exchange, it’s probably my most poetic story I’ve done.

Mess Me Up, No One Does it Better (rated E, Han/Leia smutty smut smut!)

For a long time I didn’t write smut. No shade to anyone who did, just wasn’t something I used to be confident in writing. I got better at it. I was really proud of how this one came out; it’s Leia flashing back to a passionate encounter with Han on the way back from a mission (as she’s waiting to be debriefed from said mission).

One Half Won’t Do (rated T, Han/Leia rebellion-era trope-o-rama)

This is hard because "unpopular" can be very relative across time, corners of the fandom, fandom vs general audience, so I don't know if this is still unpopular but it very much was my most unpopular opinion seven years ago...

... and it's that Leia having had a previous relationship doesn't affect her relationship with Han in any way; it doesn't make it less special or meaningful; it doesn't make Leia irresponsible or uncommitted or whatever the fuck other adjective people might use; it doesn't contradict canon because I don't give a single fuck about what George Lucas might have thought about Leia's virginity that he might have conveyed via people's perceived (sexist) symbolism through her clothes; it doesn't change anything. Even if she was in love with that person!!!

Hey there! First of all, I want to thank you for the engagement on my posts. I really appreciate it 🫶🏻

I actually haven't heard of it, but after looking at the description for it, it sounds super intriguing and something I would be interested in reading! I'm a huge fan of her works.

I actually really disliked AU fics until I joined Tumblr last summer, and I saw the incredible writing from my mutuals and the people I follow. Everyone is so talented and creative. I almost feel like a waste of space here for not writing fanfiction 😅

@joybirdsworks is famous <3

I think I've given myself too much power in doing a transcript format because I LOVE writing dialogue SO MUCH.

Also upon posting this, I'm suspicious I've subconsciously given Daniel one of my own speech patterns in just how often he says fuck lol rip.

[INHALE OF BREATH] [EXHALE OF BREATH] "That fucker scares the shit out of me. All blank staring and looking me over like I'm some kind of experiment. Or worse, like I'm some kind of food." "I just don't get why he wants to see what I'd do or learn who I am. Why the hell should he care about some no-name journalist from California? He's a vampire for fuck's sake. There's got to be a million other things he could be doing with his immortal existence, right? Like, I don't know. Eating people, exploring ancient ruins, breaking into radioactive storage facilities to take a dip in the pool, living it up by stealing shit from a museum and not getting caught. All things a vampire could be doing."

For example, I just commented on @joybirdsworks fic Millennium Georgia (it’s so good if you like southern gothic AUs of Star Wars original trilogy) (also this is a bit of a spoiler I guess):

Favorite tropes I see done with HanLeia: I love Friends to Lovers, that one is so good and I see a lot of writers do excellent things with it. Just seeing their relationship grow and how they trust each other as friends but then start to realize that there is something more going on — *chef’s kiss*. Lovely. Unresolved sexual tension, that’s a fun one, especially if both of them are attempting to deny how bad they have it for each other. I love a good battle couple moment, where we see them work together and support each other in the field. I’ve also seen folks do some lovely things with hurt/comfort, especially after Han is out of carbonite, or when Leia’s maybe having nightmares/dealing with the aftermath of Alderaan. Them being able to be vulnerable with each other is really special.

Least favorite tropes I see done with HanLeia: This is well-documented, but I hate the idea that Leia was a super uptight ice princess and that Han softened her up or that she was incapable of loving until Han or any other kind of baloney like that. I hate tropes where Leia is the only one with brains and Han is some kind of bumbling dumbass who can barely tie his own shoelaces and just managed to stumble into heroism or into getting Leia to fall in love with him. I also hate the idea that Han is some kind of player and that Leia has somehow tamed him or some rot like that (or that he corrupted her). Also hate HanLeia being done as enemies to lovers (unless it’s an AU where someone’s a Sith or we’re knowingly going a bit out of character for them)OR even more generally the idea that Han and Leia just bickered and fought their entire relationship. I just don’t think that would’ve been the basis for their connection, and I think the snarking they do with each other in ESB is directly related to the extreme stress they’re under and their attempts to avoid hurt by denying feelings for each other.

Thank you kindly for the ask!

🪰 Recommend a fic that makes you sad (in the best way!!)! Some great angst and/or hurt/comfort!

The Opening by @onwardintolight is an angsty ESB multichapter from Leia's POV about dealing with trauma and finding hope in the dark.