#undoomed au

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

the more anyone makes an un-nuanced claim about leia hating anakin, the more i gain the urge to write a fic of leia learning to make peace with him. also go read amakurra and the dav series by fialleril and nameless on the edge of nowhere by taxonamie NOW

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

for @mirrorofliterature's positivity challenge, i'm sending in some fic recs from the depths of my bookmarks: some fluffy, some angsty, some funny, all interesting to me

Aboard a Medical Frigate by Jenny_Islander (1/1): Recursive fic of Fialleril's DAV, in which Anakin and the Rebel Alliance are forced to confront the legal and ethical nuances of the former's survival post-ROTJ (mainly in the double agent context, but also extends somewhat to non-spying context as well); archive-locked [CW: trauma]

Among the Shattered Remnants by DragonflyonBreak (1/1): Anakin lives AU, in which the Skywalkers face off against a survived but Fallen Mace Windu, ft. New Republic criticism [CW: injury, neglect, victim-blaming]

Bad Code by PhenomenalWoman (1/1): In which Anakin reacts to the Deception arc by emotional suppression instead of lashing out, Obi-Wan just wants to talk, and Ahsoka is so done with this lineage's generational trauma [CW: dissociation, grief, suicide ideation, trauma]

Date Night by @grand-duc (1/1): Anidala date escalating into a political exposing excursion [CW: mentions of exploitation]

Lost But Not Forgotten by @sonoftatooine (series): Winter Soldier AU, in which Anakin goes missing during a meeting with Palpatine pre-Order 66 and is presumed dead, Padmé survives ROTS as a Rebel single mother, and revelations are to be had [CW: abuse, grief, memory loss]

power & control by @spongyllama (series): ROTS fix-it. In which Anakin calls Obi-Wan for help in the Jedi Council room, and that saves the galaxy. Sequel covers political and psychological fallout, ft. therapy arc [CW: abuse/grooming, psychological torture, trauma]

PRojects IN Controlled Environments, version Sith by Beth Winter (1/1): Slice of life, in which an Imperial project manager makes friends with a "secret" engineering nerd on Coruscant, ft. outsider/OC POV + bureaucratic nonsense + the power of loth-cats [CW: injury]

the soft sound of distant waterfalls by bugbouquet (1/1): Pre-relationship Anidala bonding fluff on Naboo, ft. transmasc Anakin

Weapons of Choice by @aleksandriel (1/1): Fluff, in which Anidala are stuck on a ship and they have some playful sparring

when love explodes by QueenWithABeeThrone (1/1): Crack, in which post-ROTJ Anakin has his pre-Mustafar looks mostly restored and ace!Luke is so done with his father's admirers confessing to him about their attraction to his father [CW: sex mention]

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

What I really need more of is Luke seeing Vader and R2 + C3p0 interactions.

This is an interesting proposition! I do wonder how that would turn out, though:

Do R2 and 3PO recognize Anakin at all in this state? We know for a fact that 3PO was memory-wiped, so he almost certainly doesn't even remember his Maker in canon :(

I know there was this one ESB comic where they meet again on Cloud City (or at least, Vader grieving a deconstructed 3PO) and the implication that he allowed 3PO to be rebuilt because he knew who 3PO was, but this is never outright stated in the movies, probably because 3PO's backstory wasn't cemented back then

@taxonamie wrote post-ROTJ Anakin reuniting with memory-wiped 3PO in Nameless, On the Edge of Nowhere (end of Chapter 33/29) and it broke my heart, I tell you (Luke isn't there for the fic, though)

As for R2? I've read quite a few fics where R2 gets to reunite with his post-Sithing pilot and have some deep in the blog, should be in R2's tag if you go looking

The thing is, R2 has to recognize who Vader is in the first place for all that to happen

For relevant fics involving Vader and R2 interactions, I recommend Argos (and the rest of the Limpet AU) by frodogenic (Legends, Anakin and the Executor survive ROTJ but get lost in the Unknown Regions for 25 years first), Reunion by @grand-duc (Archive-locked), Operation De-Virus by @fanfictasia, and The Sleepover to Restore the Republic by @clawedandcute (specifically Chapter 2, Luke is here to react to it). The Jedi Mechanic by business_inator is also a good read for post-ROTJ Luke finding out about R2 and Anakin's friendship

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

my lovely mutual @anakinapologist501 requested some fic recs of anakin and mara jade from legends, so here's a couple of them i've read:

limpet au by frodogenic: legends continuity; anakin survives rotj but he and the executor crew get lost in the unknown regions for 25 years before making it back to the wider galaxy, and now has to settle into the role of grandfather to the next generation of skywalker-solos. they interact quite a few times throughout the au, if it helps.

ranov'la by spacewall: anakin defects early and helps cody found a clone-based rebel sect. while they don't directly interact in the series, chapter 1 of tom'urcir touches on what anakin thinks of mara jade and luke recruiting her to the rebels.

untitled double agent vader snippet by fialleril: in which mara is trained to be an inquisitor/replacement sith apprentice and a not-so-evil anakin adopts her (no shipping with luke in this au, though). disclaimer: fia isn't a fan of much of the eu in general and sees this au's mara as an oc and not necessarily mara jade from legends, but the ficlet appears to be well-received by mara jade fans.

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

how I see Anakin and Leia's relationship if Anakin had lived: its a slow process. With lots of therapy and anger. But eventually they will develop a postive relationship(they have time, especially if they get Anakin help for his health. I heard humans in star wars can live up to 200 years. So they have the time). The main thing Leia slowly comes to realize is that Anakin hates himself, but will do anything for the people he loves. And Leia wants to be angry but she also has to balance that with not being cruel and there's tons of angry people who want to be cruel to her birth father already. Anakin will do anything that she asks. And Leia is fully hit with that when her father kneels to her to apologizes. Mostly Leia has to figured out how to balance justice and being out right cruel when it comes to things that Anakin has done. Luke helps a lot. When they develop a relationship they like to joke a lot with each other. And no matter what Anakin calls her princess. Mostly though they both have same temper, so if they argue about stuff people tend to duck for cover( though Anakin post ROTJ has develop some chill)

That's a delightful reading of their relationship. While I do not necessarily think their relationship would truly be fully positive (there's too much water under the bridge for that, especially if we're going with "canon-compliant up until the ending of ROTJ"), I do believe they'd reach at least a mutual understanding. (I don't like thinking too far into the future when it comes to fictional characters, but I've been reading fics where they do reconcile somewhat post-ROTJ, so I do wish for the best for them.)

That said, if Leia decides she doesn't want to reclaim Anakin, he would respect her decision. He knows what he's done, and if he can canonically back down from Padmé after her initial rejection (he only reciprocates again after she decides it's worth the risk) and respect Ahsoka's decision to leave the Jedi Order (regardless of his personal feelings on the matter), he can do something similar for Leia. Strangers from Henceforth by DragonflyonBreak is a good fic for that specific premise.

[eldritchdemigodskywalkers]

My favorite thing about about post Rotj fics where Vader lived is Luke smiling up at dark Vader and Vader just staring down at him, perplexed by his son's whole existence but also loves him so much that Luke can feel it in the force. My favorite Father and Son duo.

what if they had a proper chance to be family… :(