Year-End Fic Recs 2022 - part 4

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 out there, 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. This is my fourth and final post of recs for this year.

Here’s where to read my other 2022 fic recs posts: 2022 Fic Recs Part 1: Leia Organa Has Become Unstuck in Time 2022 Fic Recs Part 2: Han and Leia Learn that Sex Doesn’t Fix Things 2022 Fic Recs Part 3: Catching Up with the Princess and the Scoundrel

And now...

2022 Fic Recs Part 4: Oh, Did You Think We Were Done With Sexytimes?

There was an embarrassment of riches in the HanLeia hotness department this year -- while some of my other recs included some excellent intimate scenes, I couldn’t help recommending some additional fics that I found incredibly sexy. Adults only, for certain.

Bound by @corellianangel: A very hot interlude on the way to Bespin, with a bit of Leia dominating Han and inappropriate use of the Force (even if Leia doesn’t quite know that’s what she’s doing yet).

let me tell you a story by @soloorganaas: Han’s trying to help Leia relax, and Leia can’t quite get there -– so he tells her a hot story that takes her the rest of the way.

the bad habits are the hardest to break by xslytherclawx: I’m not usually a modern/Earth AU kind of person, but this little fic was great, with Han and Leia having some friends-with-benefits sex and Leia not quite ready to admit it’s more than a one-time thing, plus a little reference to bi-for-bi Han and Leia, and Han asking for Leia to do something for him...or more to the point, to him.

Lost together by @contrivedcoincidences6 / Spooky66: “When I kiss you, I want you to remember it the next day.” Han and Leia crash while on a mission, and have a sexy little interlude away from the Rebellion. 

War of the Roses by kroland: Han and Leia go to a war-ravaged planet on a sensitive mission, and their mutual attraction blooms into a night together (and the beginning of more) as they work together to complete the mission and attempt to determine who their true allies are.

Slick by @madame-alexandra​: I think my first reaction was just me with my mouth hanging open, but....yeah, wow. “Things get wet” is a bit of an understatement here. And yeah, Han, if you can figure out how you did that to Leia, could you let us know?

Trust by @inelegantprose​: Oh my goddess, where do I start? This is fully intense smut (and you have to be logged into AO3 to read it) but incredibly sexy, emotional, and fully engaged with the characters at the same time. Leia discovers an old Corellian wedding night tradition, something she’s never done before...and she decides she might want to try it. Of course, there’s a bit of buildup needed to this particular act, which turns out to be just as hot as the supposed main event. I’m just going to start cursing now, frankly, because it’s some of the best and most intimate smut I’ve ever read.

i've never read any han/leia fics tho now thinking i should try some. which writers do you recommend?

bestie you are in for a TREAT bc this fandom is like 50 years old we have so so much great stuff

my fave writers are @lajulie24 @otterandterrierwrites @contrivedcoincidences6 @yoyomarules @inelegantprose

some fave fics by others are a journey of a thousand miles by greyathena, a toast by knitzkampf, all of the fire I’ve swallowed by maplefiasco

this is a WW2 au that’s finn/luke (written around the same ago though) with background hanleia and it’s one of my favourite fics of all time so I can’t not rec it

and just generally checking out the ao3 tag with other pairings filtered out. there’s constantly good new fic

What’s a pivotal moment in their relationship you imagine occurring post-ROTJ or is it just blissfully ever after all the way

I haven’t written anything about it yet, but I think that the moment they start living together and have to start doing the whole being a couple thing, decide what kind of relationship dynamic works for them, is really pivotal for Han and Leia and something that they will struggle with for some time.

My head fought against that concept for a while because I obviously do want the blissfully ever after, and as a reaction to canon and fanon interpretations that “they just wouldn’t work”, but I don’t think that RotJ shows all the growth they still need to do as individuals and a couple (even if it’s an important starting point). So I’m happy to imagine the conflict-less moments, but I also think for at least a year after RotJ not everything would be smooth and easy for them.

Han has never had a home that wasn’t a ship, never had many possessions, never had to buy stuff like chairs or plates, what he owned was sparse and functional. He was free to just take off whenever he wanted or needed to. Leia knows what having a home looks like and had an apartment in Coruscant, but this is also her first time owning and managing her own place. You and @amilynh have also got me thinking about them not having any money right after RotJ and having to make do. I can imagine Leia having small crises at the sight of luxury products like facial cream after having spent years with barely the most basic hygiene products, thinking of before and what it cost to get here. So they both have to adjust to having a place that is theirs, that they have to come back to, and that they share.

The beginning of living together is a tough process for every couple, I imagine, and I can see Han and Leia stressing over trying to get some normalcy and sort of forcing things, still not really able to share their doubts easily lest they end up disappointing the other, feeling guilty when they need space or they aren’t able to reach what they imagine is expected of them. Thinking for example “I can’t take this job because I’d be travelling a lot while Leia/Han has to stay here and obviously I’m not a good partner if I choose that”.I think Leia has the upbringing and the skills to know how a healthy relationship works and how it’s absolutely possible to be happily married but not be living in the same space 24/7 due to work, and they would learn to compromise in a way that doesn’t mean one of them loses, but I also think that it’d be difficult for both of them to reach that balance at first.

But ALSO, after RotJ they both need to figure out their place in this new galaxy. What do they do now? What would they like to do for a living? There’s a lot of identity searching there—Leia has to come to terms with the fact that her planet is gone for good, that she found a brother, the identity of her biological parents and her Force-sensitivity. What does it mean to be the princess of a dead planet? How much does she want to explore her connection to the Force? Now that she can afford to find out, what are her likes and dislikes, what does she want to do with her free time? Is politics really her passion? Han went from wanted man, generally doing what it took to survive and looked at as scum, to hero of the rebellion, respected general, partner to a princess, free from his biggest debt. From lone-ish wolf to brother, boyfriend, comrade. He obviously can’t continue to smuggle illegal substances for a living, so what does he do? Is the military really the place for him? Now that he can afford to choose, what does he want to do? What if Leia is disappointed in his choice? He also has to adjust to losing his long-time partner and friend once Kashyyyk is freed and Chewie can go back to his family.

So it’d definitely be a tough, make-it-or-break-it period of their lives imo!

Peace

Happy HanLeiaSecretSanta exchange day, @inelegantprose! It’s your Secret Santa here, with your 2017 exchange fic!! Hope you enjoy what came from your lovely prompts. ;)

Summary: While on a diplomatic mission to a world during a holiday season honoring peace and goodwill, Han and Leia work through an issue of married life and contemplate the complexity—and simplicity—of peace.

http://archiveofourown.org/works/13197243

Huge thank you #1 to @just-lils for the wonderful and much appreciated beta reading! Thank you #2 to @graciecatfamilyband for the wonderful cheerleading and for getting me to sign up in the first place! Thank you #3 to @organanation for additional guidance along the way. And of course, thanks to all three mods @graciecatfamilyband, @hanorganaas, and @organanation for organizing the exchange!

Can I ask how you decided when you and Stephen should get married? My girlfriend and I have been together for 2 years and she’s very much The One — I can’t explain it better than that. But I know marriage is still very far off and honestly it feels ridiculous to mention it “aloud” even though I can see us marrying quite vividly. And it bothers me that for the next what 6 or 7 years (we’re 21) we’ll be in the same “place,” just girlfriends, because no one I know who went to college marries 1/2

Before 27. It just would be highly unusual. (The other exception being folks who are very religious, which we aren’t.) “Why rush, why not wait until you’re more financially stable.” Which I don’t disagree with, but it feels hard to not be able to recognize the significance of our relationship before our late 20s… I’m so sorry if this is way too personal, but — what went into the decision to marry then? Did you get pushback? Was it considered atypical? No plans to marry now but… (2/2)

Ooh this is a very good question. I’m happy to talk about it; thanks for asking!

Obviously, our faith had a lot to do with us marrying young, as we chose to save sex for marriage (which gets difficult after awhile, lol). But we also had other valid reasons that weren’t related to that.

Honestly, it just felt like the right time. Like you said, we knew we were each other’s “One”, without a doubt. We were already committed to each other, and we wanted to make that commitment public and official. We were knowledgable about and felt mature enough to handle the ups and downs that might come with such a commitment. We already knew each others’ biggest weaknesses and had worked through a lot of struggles together. We were both willing to put each other first and look out for each other’s best interests. 

It was also, contrary to popular assumption, a financially viable option for us at the time. We were never well off in those early years, but as full time students with zero income, the financial aid we got (aid, not loans) was enough to not only cover our education but also to live on. (Applying for financial aid was occasionally a job in and of itself, but it was infinitely easier to manage than a full-time job that wouldn’t meet our needs as well.) That got us through our remaining years of college. 

The most difficult part was post-college, when Stephen was unexpectedly unemployed for a year due to the economic downturn and we no longer had any source of income except for my minimum wage job (definitely not what we had planned). Our savings went a ways towards helping us get through, but things would have gotten very bad without our families’ help. 

As an aside, help from family is something I’m not ashamed of, even though in our American culture it’s kind of looked on askance. My grandparents generously helped my parents when they were in dire times (including taking us into their home for a year when my dad was too sick to work), my parents helped us during that hard year post-college, and I am certainly planning on passing on this generosity to my future children if need be. “It takes a village to raise a child.” And not just children — as per the Irish proverb: “It is in the shelter of each other that the people live.” Our notions of independence are rather rare in the world, I think. Also, if families (and when that fails, the community) did their part and looked out for each other, I don’t believe homelessness or extreme poverty would be as much of an issue.

Anyway, I think that financial stability, while a very important and worthy goal, is not what makes or breaks a marriage. It can put strain on it, yes. Like any struggle, it has the potential to result in a break, but if you lean into each other through it, you can grow and heal stronger than before. The times when we were really struggling financially were in retrospect really good for us. We grew and learned a lot together and came through those struggles stronger for it. 

Even if you’re financially stable to start with, you can’t guarantee you always will be. In the end, you can never know for sure when or how the next struggle will come — you can only be sure that it eventually will. Struggles will always come in a marriage, but it’s our choice what to do with them, whether to lean into each other or turn away. 

Anyway, we did get a few negative reactions from people, but fewer I’d think than the norm because again, it’s more common among religious people to marry earlier. In the end, the negativity was something we just chose to ignore. The time was right for us. It didn’t matter if some people doubted we were ready due to our age. We knew we were ready. (And those who truly knew us best agreed.)

The norms change over time and from culture to culture. My grandparents married in college (my grandpa was 18 and a freshman, my grandma was a senior). Their loving and faithful relationship has spanned many, many decades and is still an inspiration to me. My other grandma was 17, and her marriage lasted, too. Yes, some young marriages can end poorly, but that doesn’t mean marrying older can’t end poorly at times, too. Honestly, maturity matters more than age. And a willingness to commit, and already knowing each other very well. We knew it could be done because we’d seen it in the lives of my grandparents and others.

While we were mulling all these things over, weighing the pros and cons of marrying in college, we read an article about other couples who married at our age and how they were managing college, and it encouraged us greatly. Just knowing it was possible (especially the financial aid thing) and that there were others out there doing the same helped a lot. It may not currently be the norm, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t many people doing it. The “norm” isn’t a good thing for everyone.

In the end, there was really no good argument against us marrying when we did. It would be an expression of the commitment we already had, it would make it easier to stay true to our beliefs, it would be financially viable (even if a struggle at times), and we were both as well prepared as we could be. Anyone who doubted would eventually be proven wrong. And in the end, we wanted more than anything to journey and learn and grow through this time in college and beyond together, as one. And so we did. :)

I hope all that is intelligible — it’s 3 am and I’m already half-asleep — but those are my musings for now. Let me know if you have any more thoughts/questions! And best wishes to you and your girlfriend, whatever you choose to do

inelegantprose mentioned you in a post

…and Eretraa by @ knightedrogue – I’d say those…

Bless you, @inelegantprose. I respect the hell out of you and your work right back. :) 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Wars Original Trilogy Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo Characters: Leia Organa, Han Solo Summary: Leia discovers an old Corellian tradition and wants to try something new. [fully smut]

As my second participation in Scoundress Saturday, here is a little edit.

I decided to rummage through the last fics I read, select a sweet sentence to quote, and do... something... with it. Settled on @inelegantprose‘s Gravity, chapter 4.

It’s pretty simplistic and not what I had in mind but... it’s done—it’s done! It’s not even saturday anymore, here... urgh

I was tagged by @diplomaticprincess to answer the following. ❤️ Tag some people you’d like to know better!

Last song I listened to: “Technicolour Beat” by Oh Wonder

Last show I watched: Ted Lasso

Last movie I saw: The Banshees of Inisherin

Currently watching: Shrinking, The Last of Us, The Mandalorian, Dickinson, and just finished up a rewatch of Star Wars Rebels. Oh, and I guess I’m watching Ted Lasso now.

Currently reading: The Courtship of Princess Leia (it’s a reread for book club, this shit is terrible but hilarious), the Saga graphic novel series, lots of Star Wars fanfiction

Current obsessions: My new ankle boots, interesting necklaces and dangly earrings, my new purple and pink highlights, the Maintenance Phase podcast (among others), the Kitchen and Jorn YouTube channel (among others).

Tagging: @corelliaxdreaming @delicatefalice @keys2thefalcon @organanation @otterandterrier @graciecatfamilyband @millennial-falcon @ewokshootsfirst @inelegantprose @theorganasolo @contrivedcoincidences6 and anyone else who wants to play!

inelegantprose replied to your post: for my design job my boss: hey could you do a...

whAT is your JOB

i work for a small design company where we do identities for parties and people. like name tags, id tags, food tags, etc. 

we’re working on back to school ids and we need a bunch of characters kids know and like. 

When you facetime your best friend and fellow lesbian and she says your vibe reminds her of sigourney weaver from alien, you know you're doing something right

@autistichansolo replied to your post “@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post: Would Han fare well as a...”

 i can see how without the political implications he could be a slytherin but like i also have a long rant how he's a hufflepuff bc he really is imo

@just-lils replied to your post “@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post: Would Han fare well as a...”

I wish Han was a Hufflepuff and slightly grumpy about it.

@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post “@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post: Would Han fare well as a...”

SLYTHERINS ARE GREAT FAM I LOVE ME SOME SLYTHERIN ITS JUST NOT HAN K?!

@inelegantprose replied to your post “@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post: Would Han fare well as a...”

slytherins hi !!

@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post “@graciecatfamilyband replied to your post: Would Han fare well as a...”

It was an incorrect AU on many levels and I'm still offended by it.

rosestico replied to your post “Is Han THE galaxy's best Hufflepuff rather than just ONE OF the best...”

👏👏 Han is a Slytherin, thank you!                    

@inelegantprose @rosestico YASS! 🐍❤️️ @graciecatfamilyband what do you know about HP anyway hmmm??? (ง •̀_•́)ง @autistichansolo @just-lils ooh I’m very curious about Hufflepuff Han! But there is no swaying me in my headcanon lol!

inelegantprose replied to your post: me: I’m probably straight. Just because I...

join us embrace the wlw side

Not much room for exploration in a monogamous marriage, but if I were single again, I would probably at least try dating women as well. 

@inelegantprose said: hello there !

It was your fic! Congratulations, my bisexual ass loves the idea. [ I always saw both Leia and Han as Bi anyway this adds it to a new level XD ]

inelegantprose reblogged your post and added:

Mmmm – I need to bang out the last three chapters...

Yay! Happy writing and many blessed sentence constructions! I pray you have no trouble with sentences ending with a plaguing preposition and that many interesting verbs come to you! :D  

Any good “Bespin Baby” fics?

Hello! I'm not a fan of the trope so I haven't read any as to be able to rec them per se. I can tell you the ones I know of, though, which come from authors I like:

Leela Starski's saga, Forty Days to Bespin, One Night on Bespin, Family Matters, and Tatooine (I did read Forty Days and One Night)

Corellian Lilies + Lilies in Carbonite by @lajulie24

Retrouvailles by @contrivedcoincidences6

Separate Together by @inelegantprose

If anyone else has any recs, please feel free to add them in the comments!