#who knows when some of these will be finished (like the dinluke) but yeah!!

[tennessoui]

please please pLEASE can you read us about some of your wips??? just some crumbs? some morsels for us starving little obikins?? 🥺🥺🥺

sure!! of the ones that i listed on that other post (about which tabs i have open), the wips are:

if you love me let it remain unnamed chap 2 (which will feature a whole lot of angry, possessivee anakin being very angry towards his older self because his older self won't stop touching his master) (also probably will feature mirror sex i mean i want it to)

sun sun sun here it comes: the silly oneshot i work on whenever im in a silly goofy mood. obi-wan makes goofy faces at babies on public transit and the skywalker twins and father form Instant Attachment. also there's identity kink (surprising to me honestly)

daedalus: the opposite of the above au, what i work on when kit is NOT feeling silly goofy. it's a canon compliant retelling of the movies, but most of the characters have wings. working summary: Anakin flies, Anakin Falls. Obi-Wan fails, Obi-Wan flees.

welfare checks (title in progress): silly little dinluke au i will finish one day where din decides to go do a welfare check on grogu and decides luke is insane because he's always talking to thin air (force ghosts din cant see)

vowbreaker chapter 6: also not silly goofy. self-explanatory. so not silly goofy.

need never look back again: cheating au fic! title taken from the heard it from a friend song, which honestly feels like such a good song for that au. dirty bad naughty fic where padmé finds out her husband has been cheating on her with her mentor from the senate.

independence avenue and madison drive: the smithsonian au fic! those are the streets that the national air and space center and the natural history museum sit on. enemies to lovers. but make them both unbearable and obsessed with each other

[omgahgase]

always you - dinluke

cross posted on ao3 already, can be found here. i'm still really tired and still really emotional about finishing a fic after everythings that happened, so go easy on me and give me head pats bc, honestly? i kinda deserve it.

fic is under the cut!

Din has a scar. He has a lot, actually, littered across the length of his body in blaster bullet shapes and knife-sharp lines. Some of them even have razor-teeth patterns that Luke immediately latches onto with the same hungry intensity, salivating for a story only Din can tell.

This scar, however, is small. It’s right on the bridge of his nose, laid jagged across haphazardly repaired skin in a tone just a shade too light. It’s a few scants below his eyes, lined up perfectly to his crows' feet, crooked in that intimate way Luke knows resulted in a broken nose. Luke knows this—he knows this better than he knows his own scars because Din’s scar is barely noticeable and it’s sorta adorable and because it’s Din’s.

Luke can retain light years' worth of knowledge on Din. Because, when allowed to learn everything there is to know about a person in all their entirety, on someone he loves and who loves him back just as hard, it’s a pretty easy decision to make.

Luke knows Din has a nose scar because he kisses it every morning when they wake up tangled in each other’s arms and tied to the hips by sheets. Luke brushes a feather-light thumb over the slightly raised skin any time he cups Din’s face and is reminded what it means to hold his world in the palm of his hands, a sweet caress followed by an even sweeter, longer kiss. And Luke stares at it. He looks and stares and admires how such a small, almost invisible piece of someone’s past could capture his attention for unimaginable amounts of time. How Luke—prompted with the almost unfairly handsome face that is his husband, his Earth-rich brown eyes and bed-tousled hair, his smile that makes Luke feel like a star erupted somewhere out there in the universe—could whisk past all the features that make him jelly-legged and punch-happy giddy in favor of staring doe-eyed at a tiny, barely there, blemish of skin.

Over the years, Luke has come up with a few conclusions.

The first one is this: because even if Din doesn’t wear his helmet at home anymore, now well past the few years of dating and blindfolds and eyes screwed shut so tight Luke used to give himself vision blobs of varying degrees, each time Luke looks up and sees Din’s nose scar first, then the rest of his face second, he feels as if he’s taken back to Gideon’s cruiser, laying eyes on the Mandalorian for the first time all over again and zeroing in on that rough, sinewy, line of skin. Even from well over ten feet away, Luke could see it, he stared at it for a moment too long for he’s always one to notice the small things of a person first before realizing the tiny green sentient in the man’s arms was the spitting image of one of his late masters. Thinking back on it, Luke probably should’ve opened his horizons on that one instead of gawking at the gorgeous, crying man saying goodbye to his son.

Luke’s second conclusion is less winded and lacking waxed poetry, providing a more sensible idea as to why he’s constantly transfixed to Din’s scar: it’s a part of Din and Grogu. It’s a remembrance of a time when they both decided that they’d do anything for the other, risking their lives for a chance to save one they love more so than their own.

And because of that, Luke loves them, so he loves Din’s nose scar just as much.

“You know,” Din begins, pulling Luke out of his mindless ramblings and back to Yavin where he started before Din unlocked a whirlwind of words, “you could also just say, ‘It’s cool.’ Saves you more energy.”

Luke nuzzles into Din’s hair, buries his nose into the familiar scent of beskar and berry shampoo, and scratches at his scalp with blunt nails. “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that? I can’t string lines of devoted poetry into a lame reason like that.”

“You could try.”

“It would suck.”

“I would still read it.”

Luke gives a disbelieving snort, only to have Din raise his head from Luke’s chest and look him dead in the eye. Luke has the urge to squirm away because it’s been nearly eleven years of marriage and fifteen of being together and he still can’t look at Din without blushing like a schoolboy with a playground crush. So he does the most reasonable thing that pops into his head.

He looks at Din’s scar like a marvel and cherishes it like a treasure. Which, to Luke, it is.

“I would,” Din repeats.

“Would what?” Luke asks, too busy tracing the outline of pale skin across a regal nose for the umpteenth time.

“Read your sucky poetry.”

Luke smiles, hugs Din a little harder, and tightens his thighs on either side of Din’s strong middle. His lips are on Din’s hairline when he says, “So you think my poetry is sucky.”

“Only because you said you’d write some.”

Luke hums and skims his lips over Din’s forehead. “Thank you.”

Din shifts, stretches his neck until he captures Luke's mouth with his own, and kisses him until Luke’s upper lip is rubbed raw by his mustache, stinging with that pleasant after-burn he only ever wants to feel from his husband.

“I also think it’s cool,” Luke adds when Din parts from his lips with one last fleeting kiss and returns to resting his head on Luke’s chest, ear pressed firmly above his heart. “I think all of your scars are cool.”

“But you’re obsessed with this one.”

“For obvious reasons.”

Din chuckles, the deep rumble reverberating so far behind Luke’s ribs he can feel the sound pulsate in every active artery and blood cell in his veins.

“I can list them for you again if you’d like.”

Din doesn’t move, which makes Luke assume he’s contemplating his response, then he pulls the blanket that’s fallen loose around his bare waist up to his shoulders and wraps his arms back around Luke like they never left. His answer, despite being devoid of a verbal reply, is clear enough for Luke. Luke kisses the top of Din’s head again because he can, reverts to his earlier musings of running his fingers through Din’s hair, and melts into the couch once again, content to have this moment alone with his husband.

Training the next generation of Jedi can be exhausting, especially considering how Ben and Grogu still argue over petty squabbles at their grown ages of 70 and 21. And also because Rey and Finn are in their “rebellious years,” which just means they’d rather listen to Grogu and totally ignore Luke.

Which is fine, really. Luke is more than happy for his oldest to take his sister and her best friend to the other side of the planet for a cycle or two, and get some good training that doesn’t involve frog hunting or Force throwing Ben clear across a field. That local boy, Poe, the one that’s deathly attached himself to Rey and Finn, a problem Luke will most likely have to observe under a better lens’, will probably follow them, so that leaves Luke child-free until they and the rest of the padawans return from their monthly visitation with their families.

Luke is grateful for this break. He’s not as young as he used to be anymore, so any moment he can spare away from the kids is spent either sleeping or here, with Din. Wrapped up in each other’s arms on the couch, watching a stupidly cheesy Holomark movie about true love and a small town’s spirit to save the last remnants of what once was. Happy. Pleased to be able to have this. All of it, with Din.

As Luke rakes his fingers through Din’s hair, scratches at the salt and pepper curls resting just above his nape, and genuinely tries to enjoy the hilariously cringy film Din chose, mind you, he feels fingers slide down his side and dip under the hem of his shirt. Din’s hand doesn’t go below his hip, if anything, Din doesn’t seem aware of his actions until Luke starts giggling under his breath due to nimble fingers mapping out the branches of scars he knows are there. Luke makes it to the overly dramatic betrayal of the male lead and his plans to buy the last known family bakery in town before he has to squirm a little, trying to put distance between himself and Din’s curious fingers.

Din doesn’t like that, it seems, because Luke feels the downward pull of his frown. “Stop moving so much.”

“Stop tickling me.”

“Stop trying to get away.”

Luke barks out a laugh with a throw of his head, neck going long and feet kicking up in that way he thinks is weird but Din thinks is adorable.

“I like feeling them,” Din muses.

“Oh, yeah?” Luke retorts, wiggling when Din gets to a particularly sensitive spot near his ribs, below his pectoral, and down again to his navel. “What’s there to like about them?”

“A lot.”

“Care to share a few examples?”

“They’re pretty, for one.” Din punctuates his spoken fact with a quick kiss to Luke’s collarbone, right atop the most visible lines of lightning striking across the skin above his nightshirt.

Luke smiles, all goofy and giddy, feeling butterflies erupt in the center of his stomach. “You think all of me is pretty.”

Din looks up at him with dark, soulful eyes, lips still pressed to Luke’s chest when he says, “Of course I do.” He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, with a sureness that makes Luke believe him. “And because they’re yours. Because they prove that you’re still here.”

Luke arches just the slightest bit when Din’s fingers stake over to the small of his back, up up up until they reach his middle, and wide palms splay over thousands of branches that Din’s spent years memorizing, storing even the smallest offshoot into the deepest files of his brain.

“With you,” Luke says, breathy, almost in a whisper.

“With me,” Din confirms, moving until their noses slot together and their foreheads touch. “Always with me.”

Luke feels fingers dance across his back, feels the breadth of Din stretch himself across Luke so he can reach every scar he can and backtrack until he’s had his fill. Over shoulders and arms, the soft spots of elbows and the dip of Luke’s neck, the lean cut of his abdomen and the soft squish of his chest. Din goes until his hands have outlined and traced and mapped, until he’s touched every flaw of skin on Luke’s upper body like it’s his first time feeling them all over again.

Luke smiles to himself at this wonder, nuzzles closer so he can feel the phantom touch of Din’s scar brush over Luke’s nose.

“One more example?”

Din chuckles, and no matter how many times Luke’s heard it, it still sends his heart into a tizzy.

“Fishing for compliments, cyar’ika?”

Luke takes a fistful of Din’s hair and tugs, guiding him above his mouth. “Always, my love.”

Din shudders, which doesn’t go unnoticed, and drops a quick kiss on his lips before saying, “I love you.”

Luke kisses him back easily, naturally, like it’s the easiest task in the galaxy. Which, for them, it is.

“I love you too, Din.”

“No, cyar’ika,” he says, “I love your scars—all of them. Because they’re a part of you. So I love them. And you.” He kisses Luke again, says ‘always you’ between every pass of lips and tug of his hair.

When they separate, Luke feels dazed and kiss-drunk, but that’s normal for them, as normal as breathing. It’s simple science. The grass on Yavin is green. The sky above is blue. When Din kisses him, Luke feels as his entire world stops on its axis.

“You’re taking a page out of my award-winning poetry book, buddy. That’s plagiarism, a crime punishable by folding laundry for three days.” Luke nips Din’s lips, then flicks his tongue over the bite, soothes the skin before it gets redder than it already is.

Din growls and the sound zips through Luke like a livewire. “Just three days?”

“Keep stealing my flow and I’ll make it a week. It’s very rude to steal another man’s hard work—”

Din kisses him again as a sort of apology, or to make him shut up, but Luke accepts it nonetheless. He accepts all of it.

They stay like that until their lips forget how to move and the heat trapped between the two of them, the warm couch, and a fuzzy blanket is too much to bear. In one swift motion, Din tosses the blanket somewhere over his shoulder and drags Luke until they’re sitting upright with Luke in his husband’s lap and Din with a handful of Luke’s ass. Din claims it’s easier to talk to him like this. Luke thinks Din just can’t keep his hands to himself. Which he can’t. Fact-tested and proven.

Luke makes the best of it, however, by smoothing his palms up Din’s chest, over his shoulders to cup his face and place one last soft peck to the marred skin of his nose. Din leans into the touch like he does every time they find themselves like this, rumbling something deep in his chest that Luke always thinks is a purr. Or some sort of happy sound Din makes when he’s content and placid.

“I really do love your scar,” Luke says eventually. “It’s cool.”

Din scrunches in a way that reminds Luke of Grogu, big brown eyes and all. “Out of all the ones you could’ve chosen, why choose that one?”

Luke thinks for a moment, then, “That’s like asking why you chose me. Out of all the beings in the galaxy, why’d you choose me?”

“I didn’t choose you,” Din reasons easily, moving his hands so he can circle Luke’s hips, holding him there as if he thinks continuing the conversation might make him miraculously disappear. Like some sort of broken No Backsies promise. “I didn’t have a choice in who my heart chose to love. But if I did…”

Luke looks down at him, eyes swimming with something that makes Din’s own sparkle and shine brighter than a kyber crystal. “Always me?” Luke asks.

Din nods, holds him steady, holds him fast. “Always you.”

And Luke knows this. He knows a lot about Din. He knows about the small, faint scar across the bridge of his nose. He knows what Din’s lips feel like against his, soft and perfect and made for Luke to kiss as if he’s dying and Din’s his last lifeforce.

And Luke knows it’s Din. Always Din.

[visitbespin]

20 Questions for Writers

tagged by the wonderful @autumnwoodsdreamer, thank you!! ✨

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

19 works

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

139,379 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

star wars, star trek, and...others (that i either won't mention + there's 2 more fandoms i have unpublished wip's for... one day they will see the light of day) (and i used to write for dghda!)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

you could always see me

time to come home

we're a slow burning tune

no different

5. Do you respond to comments?

yes!! and i love to do so!!

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i don't really write angsty endings? so i'll pick home is far away - the first fic in the series of the same title! it has a hopeful ending but it leaves the characters in an 'angsty' place emotionally, essentially because it's part 1 of 3.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

home, in every language - part 3 of the home is far away series. ♡ though i am also very fond of the ending of when to hold on and when to let go.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

never, thankfully!

9. Do you write smut?

i have not

10. Do you write crossovers?

no, unless we count mixing characters from various star wars properties; i love mixing rebels characters with the OT, mando, and thrawn books characters, it brings me a lot of joy.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that i know of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nope

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship?

wow that is quite a question... within star wars i'd pick dinluke or thranto lol. truthfully i think my answer to this question changes every year lol, my ao3 bookmarks show this pretty clearly

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

oh hell... it's a star wars au of another fandom that i started writing in fall 2022. please let me finish this someday, i'm on chapter 4 of 4, and the whole thing is only 10k words rn 😭

also, more relevantly, there is a fic about ezra & luke on lothal that i started in ... early 2023. it's 6k words rn and i'm probably 40% through the story... [sighs deeply] please let me finish this one too, please.

16. What are your writing strengths?

constructing a narrative? i don't know, i'm fond of these stories i've woven. i find it hard to write a fic that's ~just vibes~, although i do love to read those; my writing is always spurred by the need to write these characters undergoing something meaningful, with a meaningful conclusion.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

...i have previously read back some of my work and found some very clunky sentences/paragraphs that really make it clear i'm only a writer by hobby, and that my profession is...more technical lol. i also don't like some of the romance i've written in the past, but i don't regret writing any of it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

hell yeah i've done it multiple times! my bobannec fic is kind of very about that, and i've used other languages in non-sw fics. i like reading it in fics as well.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

dirk gently's holistic detective agency! in 2017-2018. to this day i think it was/is the most welcoming fandom to write fic for.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

home is far away, all 3 parts. ❤️ and since i have a place to say it, that fic means so much to me because it let me express so many of the feelings i was experiencing in 2022. the same goes for when to hold on and when to let go. i really love and cherish both of those stories.

no pressure at all, tagging @theydjarin @gizkalord @gil-estel and anyone else who sees this and feels like answering questions! 💌

[cherryblossomriot]

i had a dream the other day that was basically a dinluke cowboy au and it has been HAUNTING me, so just allow me to deposit it upon you like my subconscious drop kicked it onto me:

Luke is a disabled veteran who has returned from war one hand lighter and several scars heavier. When he returns, his family, who are heavily involved in the politics/military of this fictional land, don’t understand his now jaded and melancholic view of both the world, but also the ideologies that they so strongly believe in, leading him to constantly feel like an outcast even among the people that he so dearly loves. They’re all passionate and strong-willed, but they still don’t understand, not his struggles with mental health or his new perspective, and it just makes things worse and worse and worse. Anakin is a general, and though he’s seen the gruesomeness of war firsthand, he’s also become desensitized to it and has anger-management issues, so he often almost finds a sort of refuge within the chaos of battle, so he clearly cannot even fathom the emotions and trauma that Luke is trying to sort through, much less know how to deal with them properly. Padme is a senator and cares deeply about the crimes and seemingly senseless violence occurring during the war, but she’s also a politician and knows how to play the long game, so when Luke comes to her, he leaves feeling misunderstood and pushed aside. Leia is the only one who seemingly understands, as the pair of them have a deep, intrinsic bond, but she doesn’t fully grasp Luke’s moods and doesn’t handle his breakdowns and flashbacks well. So everyone feels a little upset, a little unsettled, and a lot like they don’t understand why and how Luke has changed, which leads to Luke feeling more and more out of place within his own family. The war ends relatively soon after Luke’s return, which leads to parades which leads to awards which leads to balls and banquets, all of which Luke is forced to attend, his heart dragging but his head held high, because he’s an Amidala-Skywalker goddammit, and we have a certain responsibility and image to maintain to the public and everyone who endured so much. So Luke has to sit there through awards and boasts of glory and mentions of battle scars and it goes on and on and on, and he has to smile and bear it and accept the medal that they’re giving him because he did such a great service to his country and-he has a panic attack. A nasty one that leads to him having to flee from a ballroom, and outside to the gardens. Once he’s there, he realizes that he doesn’t want to go back in. At all. So he runs away. He just picks a direction and goes, stealing a car on the way (this is a modern au but also fictional countries because I don’t want to get into real politics, hooo boy no siree). In the middle of nowhere, he gets caught in a storm and basically crashes his car and passes out. 

But when he wakes up! That’s when the fun begins. 

He’s in this cozy sort of bedroom, and this hot guy is fast asleep in the chair beside his bed, and is that a little kid in his lap? Anyway, the hot guy wakes up, introduces himself as Din Djarin in the softest, most attractive voice Luke has ever heard with his own two ears, and doesn’t ask him where he’s from or what he was doing driving in the middle of bumfuck nowhere at 3 in the morning, so Luke is obligated to have a lil crush on him, even though he’s not sure about the kid. So he asks, and Din introduces him to his son Grogu, who waves at him and signs hello, because, as Din explains, he doesn’t speak much, and the foster system wasn’t too kind to him, so he’s got a little bit of trauma to work through. And Luke just, instantly falls in love with this soft dad and his cute little son who can shift his features from the biggest, most pleading puppy eyes ever to the face of a demented gremlin who will try to eat the frog he caught in the backyard, no matter how slimy it is, or how hard it tries to wriggle out of his hands. Din tells Luke that he can stay for however long he needs, because Luke’s kinda injured from his accident, and anyway, once he’s healed up, they always could use another hand on the farm. So Luke stays, and he meets all of Din’s other farm hands (and shitty friends). There’s Boba, who doesn’t talk much, but when he does it’s always something slightly ominous and menacing, and Luke thinks that his name sounds familiar...hey wasn’t he on the news for robbing a couple banks a few years back?...no, surely not..., Fennec, who speaks even less than Boba, and manages to be far, far more intimidating, but also helps Luke with his prosthetic and gives him fun little tips that always sound more like she’s cut off a lot more limbs than she’s lost. Cara Dune (who is not gina carano but i digress) is also there, and she’s just constantly a harbinger of chaos, but will babysit Grogu whenever Din wants to brood and stare longingly into the distance (or at Luke who’s also brooding as the sun sets but shhh). Bo-Katan and the gang are there, and while Bo-Katan grumbles about how the old ranch boss had different/better methods on how to run things, she still follows Din’s lead and helps him with the finances and taxes. They all take to Luke like a wildfire, because Luke is a sunshine boy who can make friends with literally anyone and somehow manages to make Din not only smile but laugh, but also because they can tell he’s got a lot of trauma and pain bubbling just under the surface, and they all silently but collectively agreed a long time ago that they are the patron saints of troubled and lost souls. 

When Luke gets better and starts to help out, he’s constantly upset with himself because he used to help out at his aunt and uncle’s farm in the summers when he was a kid, and he knows how to do this stuff, but his prosthetic is really throwing him off and his body has sustained a lot of other injuries that make doing manual labor a much more different experience than it used to be, but everyone is really patient with him and helps him out, especially Din. At one point, Din is so nice that Luke just loses it, because he doesn’t understand how Din can be so kind and so patient, and care about him so much, and kind of calls himself broken and useless in front of Din, and Din gets super protective and grabs his hands (real and prosthetic) and tells him that he’s not broken or useless, and you’re so sweet and wonderful, and can’t you see? Ever since you’ve been here, everyone’s been so much happier, so much lighter. You’ve brought something precious to us, but most of all to me. And they’re standing really close and for a second Luke thinks Din is going to kiss him, but instead, Luke realizes that he’s crying, and Din just wraps his arms around him and holds him.

After that, time sort of blurs, marked by things like Grogu climbing into Luke’s bed because he sensed that he was having a nightmare, and Din waking up to find the pair of them coloring in a serene silence, Luke getting the hang of ranch life and his prosthetic and dealing with his panic attacks and flashbacks as they come, and Din enduring relentless badgering from his friends because hey, if you don’t marry Luke, I will and Fennec, you’re a lesbian and that doesn’t matter, it’ll be a marriage of twink and butch solidarity. And all the while, Din and Luke are spinning closer and closer towards each other, two suns hurtling in their orbit to the other with an inescapable certainty. 

When it finally happens, they’ve just gotten back from one of those cowboy dances (idk what they’re called...hoedowns? yeah okay) (and yes, I wanted to hit all of the cliches in the book, thank you very much), and Grogu’s fallen fast asleep on Luke’s shoulder. After they tuck him up all snug in his bed, they head out to the porch, because it’s raining outside, and the steady thrum of water droplets splattering on the roof and on the grass is the most soothing sound Luke has ever heard (aside from Din’s voice), and he’s a little too afraid to go to sleep and ruin his perfect night with a nightmare. They stand there for a while, silence binding them together, shoulders brushing every now and then, hesitant and questioning. Luke thinks about how Din had asked him to dance earlier, his lips tilted in a teasing, but achingly soft smile, and how his heart had pounded a tattoo to the shape of his ribs when they’d pushed up so close together, the fast, rowdy dances of the beginning of the night having faded to something lasting, something meaningful. Luke remembers the ball he’d run away from, how the dancing had been cold, almost jeering in a way, and Luke realizes how far he’s come, how different it is here. And suddenly, there isn’t a question in his mind anymore. He turns toward Din, who turns toward him, and when he leans forward, Din breathes an uncertain “Luke-”, but he doesn’t get to finish the thought. Luke kisses him, and he kisses back, and it’s just them. There are hands in hair and noses nudged together, and at some point, they move, without either of them releasing the other, into the house and into Din’s bedroom. Buttons are unbuttoned, and whole stretches of skin are kissed, and when it’s over, they curl up together, Din tucking his head into the crook of Luke’s neck and falling asleep there. 

When they wake up, Luke explains why he came here, why he ran away, all the while Din looks at him with his beautiful dark eyes and runs his hands through Luke’s hair, which is catching the sunlight filtering in through the window and making him look like he has a halo, all the while never once condemning him for keeping it a secret this whole time. After he’s finished, he expects some sort of shocked reaction-after all, his family’s pretty famous, but all Din does is kiss him and ask, “Wait, so you have a twin?” 

It’s so unexpected that Luke throws his head back and bursts into uncontrollable, and very contagious peals of laughter, and when he’s finally able to breathe again, he kisses Din’s forehead and murmurs, “I love you.” 

Din, who has been touch starved and lonely for years (no time for relationships when you’ve got a business to run and a toddler to raise), tears up and kisses him, too overwhelmed for words. But Luke understands.  

And then Grogu pushes his way into the room holding up a box of Frosted Flakes above his head and shaking it, as if to say, I’d like to eat now, please. 

Din and Luke stifle their smiles into the other’s shoulder, and when they get up, Luke can’t help but think that he’s finally where he belongs.

----

It takes approximately .5 seconds for all the others to figure out they’re together now, and Cara and Bo-Katan (of all people) start cheering immediately, to Din and Luke’s shock. Boba and Fennec grumble and begrudgingly hand over a huge wad of cash each to Cara and Bo-Katan because they thought it would take them at least another two weeks to get together. Din’s very done with his friends at this point, but he takes one look at Luke’s flustered but smiling face and decides he won’t kill them all this time. 

And if everyone thought Luke was a lot of excitement for a humble ranch in the middle of nowhere, then they are in no way, shape, or form, prepared for when his very angry twin sister shows up with a himbo with a shit-eating grin and his 7 foot tall best friend she hired to track her brother down. 

(needless to say, Boba punches Han within two minutes of interaction).

[deniigi]

So @petrichordiam and I are menaces and giggled over our ideal dinluke flower shop AU for like 4 hrs and then I wrote this.

Title: murderer next door

Summary: Din works as a florist and Luke works as a bookseller and they’re both assassins trying to keep the other off their turf.

-------------

Two times now, Luke had crashed past that flower shop, and two times now, the fucker inside had taken out his mark. Now all Luke had to say about the whole thing was that it was too bad that he was going to have to kill the guy.

Han told him not to turn back. The mark was dead; the mark was gone. They weren’t fast enough this time, but there would be others.

Luke just couldn’t let it go, though. He had rent to pay, and McFloristApron over there was smashing through all his targets and making that nigh impossible—regardless of how many marks there were in the area.

Luke waited until Han had closed up shop for the night and remained there in the dark with his arm slung over the back of the chair in the backroom, surrounded by books. He rolled his shot of whiskey in its tumbler. The sound against the old wood table offered no comfort.

He stood up and left the glass to get his laptop.

He wasn’t losing to some florist, Han, sorry. Only one family could take innocuous cover on this street, and it was them.

 ---

McFlorist’s name wasn’t listed on the florist’s staff page, but then again, none of the people on that page had names. In fact, the website’s whole vibe was all wedding-chic until you clicked on the ‘staff and contacts’ tab. Then, it may as well have been a line of mugshots.

Luke squinted along the row of increasingly involved headgear until he got to someone with a reasonably-sized neck with no tats. The ladies on either side of him appeared to have sapped all the ink out of McFloristApron. He wore a mask over the lower half of his face and gave a stoic thumbs up to the camera.

Under his picture was the number fifteen.

Damn.

Luke was only making eight per pop. Who the hell was this guy eating up all the feeder fish, huh? Them lower division folks had to eat too, you know.

Well.

‘Lower division’ in a sense of the word. Being two times undercover wasn’t super glamorous, Luke had to say. But when your dad fucked it up for the first family, sometimes you had to take what you could get.

Luke pointed at Fifteen on the screen.

“You and me, pal,” he said. “You and me.”

 --

 Step one was to get paid first.

Luke chased down three marks on the other side of town to pay the rent and the medical bills for now. His hand’s new sleeve felt like a dream. It didn’t overheat like the nylon black one did, and the hand was far less shiny now as a bonus. That had certainly reduced the number of people catching something move out of the corner of their eye.

Was it worth fifty grand?

No.

Was it worth the last nine that Luke had left to pay on it?

Yeah. It was definitely worth the nine.

 ------

 Step two was to go make it clear to Fifteen McFlorist that he and his folks needed to back down in the face of the established guard.

Luke put on his biggest sweater and the thickest glasses he could find. He stole Chewie’s messenger bag with all the pins on it. He slung it over his shoulder and rolled the hems of his jeans up just a smidge too much, then scurried over to the florist’s across the way.

Fifteen was off to the side of the register, fucking around with something in the refrigerator. Luke busily and noisily looked through the wall of foliage on the side of the shop nearest the window. He hummed. He hawed. He made anxious nerd-sounds until a voice asked, “Hi, can I help you?”

Luke glanced out of the corner of his eye and found that Fifteen was standing facing his way now. His mask was gray this time. His apron was orange. His boots were too heavy-looking for florist work.

“I’d love that,” Luke gushed breathlessly. “See, my mom just got engaged and I’m on the way to her house.”

Fifteen lifted his chin slightly.

“What’re her favorites?” he asked tonelessly.

Terrible customer service skills, dude.

“Roses,” Luke said.

“Ours are shit today,” Fifteen said. “How about dahlias?”

Luke didn’t know what those were but sure.

“That sounds great,” he said. “You have any in pink?”

 --------

 He watched Fifteen brutalize some pink, orange, and white flowers into a bouquet wrapped with a silver bow and was sure to smile every time the guy looked up.

“That’ll be $37.59.”

Sir, these are dead flowers. There is no need for that price.

“Can I put it on card?” Luke asked. “How long have you worked here, if you don’t mind me asking? I work just across the way is all.”

Fifteen’s dark gaze flicked up. His hair was covered by a gray beanie two shades darker than the mask.

“At the club?” he asked.

“The bookshop,” Luke corrected him with a shy, but widening smile.

Please be gay. Please be gay. Please be gay. Leia wasn’t going to want to cooperate. She thought it was beneath her to establish boundaries like this.

“Blue paint,” Fifteen said. “Yeah, that place. How long have you been there?”

“My brother-in-law’s place, actually,” Luke said. “I started there last year after I finished college.”

Or, you know, maybe even eight years ago when he’d finished college. No one had to know. Baby faces don’t kiss and tell after all.

“Huh. You must like it there,” Fifteen said.

“It’s fine,” Luke hummed. “You like it here?”

“The kid does.”

“Oh, you’re a father?” Luke asked. “How old?”

“He’s three,” Fifteen said. “Godson. His folks were in an accident; didn’t make it.”

“That’s terrible, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Luke said. “He’s lucky to have you.”

Fifteen handed him his card back. Luke’s hand didn’t close in time to catch it and it fell onto to the wooden counter.

“Sorry about that,” Luke said, reaching for it with the other hand. His knuckles bumped into Fifteen’s when he went for the card at the same time. They both paused and went for the card again with the same result. Luke laughed.

“Slippery, am I right?” he asked, flattening his fingers on top of the piece of plastic and snatching it away.

“Very,” Fifteen said. “I hope your mom likes them.”

“Me too,” Luke smiled. “I’ll see you around—What was your name?”

“You can call me Armando,” Fifteen said.

“Armando,” Luke sounded out. “It suits you.”

It was a falsie.

“And yours?”

“James.”

“It suits you.”

It didn’t.

“Bye now,” Luke said. “Thanks for your help.”

He let the door fall closed behind him with the tinkle of the bell.

 --------

 He informed Han that “Armando” had a toddler and received only a warning look and a scolding for all his effort. Han told him not to get jealous. If there was a kid in the balance, then Fifteen, for better or worse, was going to have to see each day after the next until there was no longer a kid in the balance.

Luke offered to call CPS and report “Armando” as an assassin.

“You do that and those folks across the street are gonna call the VA and tell them I’m an assassin,” Han said. “Lay low, Luke. Lay low.”

Never.

“Christ. At least until that thing’s yours then.”

Luke glared at his right hand.

“Gimme a double,” he told Han without looking away from it.

 ------------

 It was never easy to hunt in the daylight, but Luke wasn’t here to do easy things. He needed to get Mark No. 1 alone. The man took the train once a week to a gentleman’s club on his lunch break. Luke needed a change of clothes.

He had a rainbow windbreaker, white boots, and fishnets all ready to go.

He got on the same train as the mark and dropped his phone nearby. It clattered loudly and the case came off. Luke swore and squatted to drop it at the same time that two girls next to him decided to become good Samaritans. They crouched with him and one of them caught the phone first. They handed it back with a smile.

“I like your jacket,” she said.

Luke let his face struggle to find a smile at her kindness to him, a sweet little twink trying to find the pride parade that happened two weeks ago.

“Thanks,” he said. “I like your bracelet.”

He stood up. The girls were pleased with themselves. Luke glanced back to find Mark No. 1 turn his head abruptly away.

Come here, Markie.

Do you like what you see?

  Mark No. 1 didn’t make it out of his hotel room. A pity. Luke took the elevator down and huffed and puffed about a cheap date when he passed the front desk. He stopped abruptly and went back to ask the receptionist what the cross street was. She judged his go-go boots.

He told her she wasn’t his type. Her manager gave him the cross street.

Mark No. 2 had different parameters.

 ----------

 Mark No. 2’s parameters involved chasing him through a maze of boiler rooms and dumpsters. He was chump change towards a hand that Luke hadn’t wanted in the first place, but alas. The anger still roared.

Luke cornered him, still in go-go boots—no need to sacrifice style for speed—and watched those pale eyes look every which way as Mark No. 2 realized that there was no getting out of this.

“You got options, friend,” Luke said. “I can bring you in hot or I can bring you in—”

“—cold.”

His head snapped up and he lurched out of the way just as the crack of a bullet exploded in the alley. A car backfired around the corner in a sympathetic cough. Luke stared at the body then twisted around just in time for a thick glove to latch onto the back of his neck.

“Well, look who it is,” Fifteen drawled.

Luke glared out of the corner of his eye.

“Hands off, Armando,” he warned.

“I like your boots.”

“You’re gonna love ‘em when they’re on your dick,” Luke warned.

“Back off, Nayberry.”

Fucking hell, Han. This is why they should have set up boundaries weeks ago.

“I prefer ‘James,’” Luke said sweetly.

The glock levelled at his face didn’t care.

“You took my mark,” Fifteen said.

“Aw, poor baby,” Luke pouted. “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you took mine.”

Fifteen’s orange apron was gone. He’d swapped it for an old leather jacket—something he could more easily wipe clean. He should’ve gone for patent leather. The brown really wasn’t working with his grey mask-beanie situation.

“Stay in your lane,” Fifteen warned.

“Only if you stay in yours,” Luke beamed.

Fifteen huffed.

“Bookstore,” he scoffed. “Who’d you give the flowers to?”

Luke tsked.

“Myself, jackass,” he said.

“Do you even have a mom?”

“What the fuck business is that of yours? You even got a kid?”

Fifteen’s stare was deadly—the cooling body before them notwithstanding.

“Take one step near him and we won’t be talkin’ so friendly, yeah?”

Mm. Yeah.

“You owe me four grand,” Luke informed Fifteen as the glock went down and Fifteen left him to go take a pulse.

The man’s back stiffened.

“Four?” he asked. “You took this job for four?”

Luke rolled his eyes.

“I got bills, Armando,” he drawled.

“How do you keep that shed open? Have you sold even one book?”

Rude. Luke was a great sales associate. If he actually cared to put his mind to it, he’d be worthy of a promotion to manager.

He pulled the rising legs of his shorts down and adjusted the weapon in his windbreaker. He couldn’t leave the alley the way he’d gone into it. Someone might have seen. He was going to have to take a side street. Hmmm, which one? Choices, choices.

“I’ll give you a Dad’s discount. Gimme two grand, and you can have him,” Luke negotiated as he thought.

“Two.”

Hey, no need for that tone. This was a great deal.

“What’re you gonna do with two?” Fifteen asked, already knelling down to heft the body over his shoulder as proof for payment.

“Buy some more tights,” Luke deadpanned. “Two, final offer.”

Fifteen stood up all the way and gave him a weird look. A long look. His beanie was pulled down low, but Luke got the impression that he was frowning at him.

“Take the four,” he said out of nowhere. “I’ll bring it tomorrow.”

Luke recoiled a step at first, then recoiled another when the reality of the situation hit him full in the chest.

“Forget it,” he snapped.

He spun around and started to leave.

“Wh—hey. HEY. Where are you goin’?”

“I don’t need your fuckin’ pity,” Luke called ahead of him as he set to climbing the chainlink fence separating him from the adjacent dead-end alley.

“You what?”

“You heard me,” Luke said.

He jumped down. His left hand found his right wrist and squeezed as he walked.

 -------

 The phantom pains kept him up all night, and it was definitely that and not the humiliation that made him call in sick. Han told him to answer his therapist’s emails. Luke told him to go do something useful and hung up. He rolled onto his back on his bed and focused on letting his body relax, his jaw unclench, his joints go limp.

There was sunlight finally streaming through his apartment windows again. It had been months.

Spring was almost here. He just had to hold out a little longer.

 --------

 He came in to work the next day and found an envelope on his chair in the backroom. It was thick.

“McFlorist dropped it off,” he said between aggravated sounds at his spreadsheets.

“Is it tax season already?” Luke asked him as he tried to burn a whole in the center of the envelope with his mind.

“Sure fuckin’ is.”

He stepped forward and snatched up the envelope, then deposited it squarely in Han’s lap. He made an unattractive noise of confusion and alarm.

“For the taxes,” Luke called as he went out to grab his lanyard and name tag. “Gotta keep this place open for another six months at least.”

 ------------

 There were new books in. A new shipment to shelve. Two kids’ displays to set up. And Luke was actually good at this stuff, thanks; he started stacking.

He got peace until he nearly got to the end of the second display, and then what he had was a heart attack. Two liquid brown eyes surrounded by an ocean of ringlets stared up at him from between his knees. The child curled a hand in and out in hello.

Luke jerked himself up to locate the thing’s parents immediately, and promptly found himself in deadly eye-contact with Fifteen.

Armando.

“You were gone yesterday,” Fifteen said flatly.

Luke looked between him and the kid. He was pinned between two enemy parties. How to escape, how to escape.

“Are you sick?”

How to escape. How to escape. How to escape.

“Are you hurt?”

H—what?

“I’m fine, stalker,” Luke snapped with more heat than this present cover allowed. He caught himself and pulled it back. “I’m fine,” he repeated. “Thank you for asking. Is this…?”

Fifteen blinked once. The child blinked once as well. It was creepy.

“He’s mine,” Fifteen said. “And apparently the only thing that will get us through the next two hours is a book.”

Dude.

“Kids are kids,” Fifteen said. “You got any books?”

Luke stared at him, then checked the shelves to make sure he hadn’t teleported into another dimension.

You always had to check.

“We’re in a bookstore,” he said.

“He can’t read,” Fifteen said, pointing.

The kid grinned. His teeth were gapped in that toddler sort of way. He was kind of cute.

“You can’t read?” Luke asked him.

“Hi,” Baby said.

Oh no.

Luke loved him.

“How much?” he asked Fifteen.

“Touch him and you’ll be permanently comatose,” Fifteen said.

“Not if I died out of spite,” Luke said.

There was a long pause. Then Fifteen started laughing? Kind of hard?

“Oh my god, that was so unprofessional. I am so sorry,” Luke blurted out.

Fifteen collected himself and shook his head. His little one giggled and reached for Luke’s fingers.

“Boo,” he said.

Luke couldn’t feel the hand, but he could feel all the heart.

“Book?” he asked, crouching down. “Do you want a story?”

“Mmmm.”

“I have the perfect one,” Luke told him. “It’s about a caterpillar. Do you know what a caterpillar is?”

He got a slow, exaggerated head shake back and forth, back and forth. He stood up straight.

“I’m conducting a temporary kidnapping,” he informed Fifteen. “Do I have consent?”

Fifteen looked from him towards the front entrance and mulled over the merits of leaving his kid with his rival assassin. Then he shrugged.

“Consent granted,” he said. “Luke.”

Luke’s heart stopped.

“James,” he said.

“Your name tag says ‘Luke.’”

Well, fuck.

“Luke Nayberry. It suits you.”

Hhhhhhh. This was karma, wasn’t it.

“Thanks,” he gritted out. “And yourself, Armando?”

“Din.”

Woah, look out. Mr. One-Syllable-Cool-Man had entered the building.

“Din, what?” Luke asked as his arm registered tension. Din’s kid had latched onto his fingers and started pulling incessantly with a chubby hand gesturing in the direction of the wall of children’s books.

“Don’t you worry about it,” Din said.

“Fine, go trip then,” Luke said.

He swore that there was a smile under that mask.

 ----------

[captainkappa]

Fanfic:: Compromising Positions

“You need to try to be less sword focused."

“You’re just saying that so you can win.”

@dinlukenation Dinluke Day 3! T4T Sparring! That’s it, that’s all I have to say!

AO3 link

-=-=-=-=-

If asked, Din would say he doesn’t keep score when he and Luke spar. It’s all for fun, neither playing to win, just a way to pass the time as the kids take their nap time. That being said, the score is 3-1 in Luke’s favor when Din pulls himself to a seated position.

“You need to try to be less sword focused,” he says, brushing off grass caught in the creases of his armor.

Luke offers him a hand, which he takes, and pulls him up. “You’re just saying that so you can win.”

Din doesn’t take the bait. “You can always drop it in a fight.”

“I could.” Luke tosses aside his lightsaber, letting it disappear in the thick grass. “But you do realize I could always just-”

Just as quick as he’d thrown it, the lightsaber is flying back toward his hand, but Din has expected this. One arm lets out the ripcord, wrapping around Luke’s extended hand and the other one goes for the spear on his back. Pulling, he knocks Luke off balance so he’s on one knee, spear pointed at his neck.

The lightsaber bounces off Luke’s knuckles as they stare at each other. Din has to take a moment to ground himself, moving his weight to his heels and back to the balls of his feet to remind him where he is. It’s too easy to get lost in those eyes.

So, he focuses on the bewildered look on Luke’s face as he tilts his head.

“You were saying?”

Luke sighs. “Fine, fine, we can try sparring without my saber.”

“And no Jedi tricks?”

“And no Jedi tricks.” Luke quirks a half grin, “Now, are you going to let me go now?”

Oh, right.

Din retracts the ripcord and Luke stands up with a small shake of his hand. The movement catches Din’s eye and he’s transfixed by those fingers that grip a lightsaber just as easily as they cradle his child when Grogu passes out due to accidental overexertion.

Luke clears his throat and Din realizes he’s staring.

“Right,” he said, hoping his embarrassment isn’t picked up by his helmet. “And I won’t use my weapons either.”

Luke nods and Din steps off to the side to disarm himself of his weapons. He’s not as armed to the teeth as he is on bounties, but weapons are still his religion.

“Are you done yet?” Luke asks, the smile evident in his voice even as Din’s facing away from him. He huffs out a laugh.

The spear is the last to be removed, landing with the rest of his arsenal.

He walks back to Luke, who’s shifting his weight from one foot to the other, hands disappearing in the sleeves of his robe.

Din considers him from a moment before saying, “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Luke scoffs. “And pass on the opportunity to fight hand-to-hand with a real Mandalorian? Why would I ever pass on that chance.”

“Alright,” he drops into a low stance as easy as ever. “I’ll go easy on you.”

Luke eyes him warily, but he can see Luke try and mimic his stance.

“I can teach you properly, but I want to see where-” Din can’t finish that sentence before Luke is upon him, all flailing limbs and dark fabric.

It’s not the worst attempt Din has seen, but it’s up there. It takes less than a minute to get Luke face down in the ground, Din kneeling above him. The lack of any loud crunching sounds reassures Din he hasn’t broken Luke’s nose.

“Who the hell taught you to fight?”

Luke lifts his head off the ground just enough to speak. “My aunt taught me how to shoot, Obi-wan taught me lightsaber basics, and Han taught me how not to break my thumb when punching someone.”

Well, it’s a start.

“Basics then,” he says, mostly to himself.

“Basics?” Luke asks as Din pulls himself up. “You mean you’re going to teach me?”

Din pauses. He thought that had been implied.

“Yes? Unless you don’t-”

“No! No, I want to learn!” Luke says, a little too quickly. He scrambles back up to his feet and rubs off some of the dirt from his face. “So, what’s first?”

“But first, you’re gonna have to take that off.”

Luke looks down on his black robes, and then back up at Din. “Why?”

“It’ll just get in the way. You need a free range of motion at least when learning.”

Luke huffs, but drops his cloak to the grassy floor all the same. He floats it over to where Din’s weapons are, folding it as it passes through the air. That leaves him in his trousers and a light-tan tunic, the low cut revealing a compression top.

With that out of the way, Din starts teaching the basics; how far to spread his legs apart, how to hold his arms, how to hit someone without hurting yourself. Luke takes to it with a focus Din only sees in meditation and the few missions he’s seen Luke on.

They don’t spar as much as Luke uses him as his own punching bag, pulling his punches so he doesn’t break a hand on the beskar. Din is thankful for the fight, which forces himself to focus on gently blocking Luke’s punches and not getting lost in Luke’s intense expression.

The sun is still hanging over the horizon when they finish that exercise. Din knows soon the kids will wake up and afternoon activities will start, and he should let Luke prepare for that, but he doesn’t seem to be looking at the Temple, so Din hazards a question.

“Do you want to try some grapples?”

Luke is still catching his breath, but nods, a smile gracing his features.

Maybe that’s why Din should’ve realized he was fucked.

Because demonstrating grapples requires physical contact. And not the quick physical contact of a punch, but the slow, deliberate contact that’s involved in incapacitating, followed by questions to make sure that Luke isn’t uncomfortable, if he understands how the grapple is supposed to work. And then they have to reverse and let Luke try it on him, Luke’s hands finding the spaces between armor, becoming suddenly intimate with the fine corded muscle Luke hides under those robes.

But Din does it, thankful for the layers between them and the helmet hiding the creeping warmth on his face.

He’s halfway to bringing Luke into a kneeling position, his arms tucked under Luke’s armpits, locking him in place, when Luke freezes underneath him, saying, “Wait-”

Din stills, loosening his grip on the other man.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, lemme just-”

Luke shakes his leg and for a second Din thinks he’s pinched a nerve or pulled a muscle. That is before there’s a soft thunk in the grass as something fell out of Luke’s pant leg.

The two of them look at the offending piece of silicone. Din swears he can see Luke’s face warm up on the HUD.

“Luke-”

“I know.”

“-your dick fell out.”

“I know.”

Din’s grip loosens as his shoulders start to shake from restrained laughter. A wind kicks up and makes the packer wiggle and then it’s over, Din being helpless to the laughter that shakes his core. He staggers back, hands on his knees as he tries and fails to calm down. Luke stays where he’s half kneeling, hiding his face in his hands, muttering about sweat and adhesive.

When Din collects himself, he manages to say, “It’s fine. I once had mine fall out during a hunt for a bounty.”

Luke gives him an incredulous grin. “Really?”

“Yeah and… then I threw it at the guy.”

Luke looks at him before bursting out laughing himself, falling onto the grass with gut wrenching gasps. Din laughs along with him, the memory just as ridiculous as ever.

“I needed a distraction and then it just… fell out!” he tries by way of explanation, but that seems to get Luke to laugh harder.

It feels like an hour passes before Luke is able to get a full breath in and speak.

“Oh, stars,” he says with a gasp, still laying in the grass, hair fanned out around him. “I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a while.”

Din holds out his hand and pulls Luke up. Either Din forgot his own strength, or Luke is still out of it from laughing because the two collide with the momentum. Luke grabs onto the edges of the chest plate to steady himself as Din’s hands hover over his shoulders.

“You okay?” he asks.

“Yeah,” Luke says, slightly breathless. Din blames it on the laughter.

Luke stills for a moment, eyes going glassy in a familiar way when he’s talking to students along their training bond.

He gives Din a small smile, taking a step back. “The kids are awake. We probably would’ve had to stop anyway, I have to clean my dick.”

Luke stoops down to pick up his packer, his robes floating over in the same movement, draping over his shoulders as he stands back up.

Din swallows, mouth suddenly dry. “Need me to look after the foundlings while you do so?”

“Padawans, but,” Luke’s smile is shy now, “if it wouldn’t be any trouble.”

“Of course not.”

Luke nods and Din watches as he shoves his dirty packer into his robes before walking in the direction of the nearby lake.

The sigh comes unbidden from Din’s lips, longing and wistful in a way he knows it shouldn’t be.

[starkskypines]

Hi Kylie! Your prompts look so cool!

How about 19 for any Star Wars characters of your choosing?

Hi KT!!! Thank you for this prompt and sorry it took so long! Also this one is a bit long at 2k words.

19 “we’ll sit and talk the stars down from the sky”: you know that dinluke trope where luke and din enter a political marriage? Yeah.

>>>

There’s a moment, just a moment, where Luke feels the entire weight of Mandalorian armor with a full-size male in it crash into his body. He realizes in that singular moment that he was wrong earlier when he asserted that no Mandalorian was a match for skill in the Force. Because if this Mandalorian was actually fighting him, he would be hard-pressed to recover from a blow like this. And given how much time Mandalorians spend training to counter Jedi fighting techniques, Luke doesn’t think he’d actually be able to win a fight against a fully trained Mandalorian. He’s had limited combat training himself. Just what he learned from Rebellion fighters. He’s skilled with his lightsaber, but Mandalorians are quick to disarm. They know how to defeat a Jedi and Luke hasn’t ever thought about how to defeat a Mandalorian before. Well, perhaps Boba Fett for a second on Tatooine, but he was busy and didn’t have time to realize exactly how skilled the armored man would be had Luke had time to fight him. He’s glad he didn’t because he has a feeling that would be embarrassing. Just like it’s going to be embarrassing when Paz makes him put his words to action. For now though, they’ve got other concerns.

The weight lifts after that moment and Luke is free-falling through the air. The wind rushes across his cheeks, hurting his ears just a bit, and making his eyes water. He closes his eyes and lets himself fall. The Force allows him to be aware of the ground below, the currents of the air, Paz fighting nearby, Din moving beside him. Both of them quiet confidence and brutal efficiency. Din is softer than Paz though, but Luke thinks he’s biased. Din is his husband after all.

Luke lands gracefully on the ground thanks to the Force slowing his fall. He looks back up to the clifftop where Din and Paz are still fighting. He can’t be of much help to them down here, but he doesn’t really think they need his help. Not like that. Sure they need him to strengthen ties to the Republic, but they don’t really need his skills as a Jedi. He’s glad they don’t hate him for that though, not like they used to in the beginning of all this.

But still, Luke isn’t one to sit out of a fight. So he gathers the Force around him and hops his way up the hundred-foot cliff to rejoin the fray.

The fight is over quickly when it’s a bunch of pirates against two Mandalorians and a Jedi.

***

“So, you want to reconsider your position on being able to take me down after seeing me fight?” Paz asks.

They’re cooking food over the campfire. Din claimed that Paz is the best cook, so just let him do it. Luke doesn’t like being unhelpful, but he allows Paz to cook. He was raised on Tatooine so his abilities allow him to make edible food but nothing that really excites the palate.

“I did challenge you.” Luke isn’t going to back down now, even if it means he gets his butt kicked in front of a public crowd. “But yes, I am worried I might lose.”

“Might?” Paz scoffs under the helmet. “Jetii, you will lose.”

“We’ll just have to see won’t we.” Luke smirks, something Leia says makes him look like an infuriating child who’s been listening to Han for too long.

“Sorry about pushing you off the cliff.” Paz shrugs. “Thought you’d live but still, Din says I should’ve warned you first or something.”

“It’s rude to push people off cliffs,” Din says.

“I was fine. It was fun actually. You know we might be able to turn that into something to be used during a fight. If we have to drop in, or fight from ship to ship in mid-air. You’ve got the jetpack, but I’ve got the Force so mid-air fighting could have some interesting possibilities.”

Paz laughs. “You bet we can work on that. You’re sticking around this time right? Didn’t come just to challenge me to a fight?”

“I’ve got time to stay. I can’t get funding to search out Jedi temples and artifacts until next year, so I’ve got a little while to get to know Mandalorian customs.”

“Well, rule one, we don’t take off the helmets,” Paz says although Luke already knows that and scoops out a bowl of stew and hands it to Luke.

“Thank you,” Luke says and stands to go find somewhere else to eat.

He settles down against a rock that overlooks a small clearing in the forest. It’s a fairly rocky world, giant rocks forming cliff faces, and other smaller ones dotting the landscape, a break against the green and brown of the grass fields and forests.

Luke has almost finished his bowl of soup when Din joins him. It’s not unusual for the armored man to seek him out. Usually to discuss something related to politics or culture or Grogu. Now that conversation had almost ruined the marriage. Din said no to training and Luke pushed and well...it had almost come to blows. Luke is a Jedi. He knows how to help Grogu. Sometimes he wishes he could do more, but that’s not his role here. One of the first Force-sensitives he finds and he can’t hardly speak to the child. It’s a good lesson for the future though. The Jedi’s reputation as child-snatchers is pervasive.

Din is quiet as he settles against the rock, his shoulder brushing Luke’s briefly before he pulls away. It’s the most touching Luke ever gets from him. He’s not sure he exactly wants more, but something warmer would be nice. But again, there’s only one point to this marriage, and it’s not Luke’s happiness.

“Why do you want to find Jedi temples?” Din asks.

“I’m a Jedi, and I hardly know anything about our culture. A lot was erased by the Empire. If I’m to train the next generation of knights, then I need to know what kind of people I’m inviting them to become. You can be Force-sensitive without being a Jedi. You can get training without being a Jedi. It’s a choice you have to make. I want to make sure everyone is informed before making that choice.”

“You can train as a Jedi and not be a Jedi?”

It’s not hard for Luke to see who he’s thinking of, but he doesn’t want to break the calm by bringing up Grogu.

“Yes. I’ve trained Leia how to control her powers and how to a do a few other things she was interested in. She doesn’t have the time to really be a Jedi, but she can’t just let her skills die out when they can be useful to her in any career.”

Din is quiet. “Grogu can’t sleep at night. I think it’s something Force-related.” Din pauses, and Luke gives him time to work out the correct words. “Could you–could you help?”

Luke nods and keeps his attention on the trees on the other side of the clearing. “I can try. What makes you think it’s Force-related?”

“Things move.”

Luke nods. “Let me talk to him when we get back, and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

“Not alone.”

“No, not alone. You’d be there of course,” Luke pauses and can’t help but adding, “I’m not trying to separate families. I’m building something different than the old Order.”

“You know you could get anything you wanted if you threatened him.”

Luke turns to Din then. “You think I’d do that?”

Din shrugs.

Luke turns away. He can’t really blame Din for thinking that. Jedi don’t have a good reputation in Mandalorian circles, let alone the son of Darth Vader. Clearly he can’t be trusted. The minute that little tidbit came out he and Leia lost a lot of standing in the New Republic. He’d convinced Leia to spin it so that it looked like Luke was the one more like Vader. The black clothes, the lightsaber, the fact that Luke had spent time alone with Vader and the Emperor on the second Death Star. It took the heat off Leia enough that she could make headway in the Senate, but the rumors and distrust still haunted them both.

“Maybe not, but if the New Republic asked you to.”

Luke wants to laugh at the absurdity, but here he is married to a Mandalorian because the New Republic asked him. It’s not his fault he was the only one that knew the Mandalor and his son. The seeing stone worked, but Din had changed his mind by the time Luke responded to the call.

“Well, I’m not in the business of betraying my husband,” Luke finally responds.

It’s silent as the insects begin to chirp, their symphony drowning out the silence. Luke should be the one to head back to camp, but he always feels the way Paz and Din don’t want him there. He aches for the day he can make a place of his own where he is wanted. Not even as a friend. He has Han and Leia and Chewie for that. But maybe as a leader, or just someone helpful, just someone that can be trusted.

“I don’t remember much about my parents,” Din starts suddenly, “Hardly anything in fact. But I remember when Mom and Dad fought she’d turn to him and say, ‘no, we’ll sit and talk the stars down from the sky.’ It was her way of ending the argument. I didn’t get it at the time, but it stuck with me. I think it means that when you lay all your cards on the table, there’s no more secrets or hidden motives that can cause arguments.”

Luke tilts his head a bit to look toward Din’s visor. He can’t make out the lines well in the darkness, but he knows Din is looking at him too.

“I can’t trust you, because I can’t trust anybody.”

“That’s a lonely way to live.”

“It’s not good for Grogu. I’m too protective, but I can’t–I can’t lose him.” Din nods once, as if coming to his own conclusion. “If he could defend himself–using the Force–”

Luke waits and Din doesn’t continue. Luke takes a risk and places his hand on Din’s arm. Din flinches but resettles.

“It will take time for you to trust me. I know. But I am willing to sit and talk the stars down from the sky as long as it takes for you to trust me. For no other reason than I think you’re right about Grogu needing to be able to protect himself, and I don’t like the air of loneliness that I get from both of you.”

Din puts his hand over Luke’s.

“Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”

Din shakes his head, the silver metal catching the reflection of moonlight from the rising moon. “You aren’t. You just like people to think you are.”

Luke can’t deny that, but he’s surprised that Din picked up on it.

“So why do you do that?”

Luke settles back against the rock. He goes to pull his hand away but Din holds on, and it doesn’t take much for Luke to intertwine his fingers through Din’s and open his mouth. He doesn’t think Din realizes just how much power he has over Luke in this moment because Din doesn’t know how much Luke wants Din to like him. He wants to be his friend and confidante and sometimes–like now–he wants permission to hold Din’s hand in the moonlight as the insects create a symphony that drowns out the fear that comes with opening up. Or maybe that’s just Din’s presence. The simple way he listens without judgment. The fact that Luke can sense his emotions if they spike, but otherwise he doesn’t really know what’s going on behind the mask, so Luke can pretend that it’s a soft smile and warm eyes as he tells truths very few are privy to.

[darkisrising]

(Dark’s brutally honest)2021 Fic Review

tagged by @treescape @tessiete and tagged for something like this by @softieskywalker (but this one is shorter, so i’m gonna do this one instead. thanks for the tag on the other review game!!!)

total number of completed works: 50 (8 currently on ao3 in wip mode)

total word count: 317,607 

looking back did you write more, less, or the expected amount of fic this year? HA!! MORE! Soooooo much more, because even up until Jan 12/13 of this past year I had absolutely no intention of writing fanfic. None at ALL. And then I started writing Mirrorball and, well, here I am today. 

your own favorite story of this year? Not to sidestep the question, but my favorite is whatever fic someone has *just* complimented me on. And then I’ll go back and look at it and go “oh yeah! this one! yeah, I like this one too.” When someone isn’t talking about a particular fic, they tend to all fade together into a wash of words and vague memories. Not unpleasant, just mentally filed into some great big mess under “my body of work” 

did you take any writing risks this year? Oh, fuck, yeah. I mean, this year for me was nothing but risks, I feel. The first fic: here I am, putting my current pain into a story, does anyone out there care? And then with every subsequent fic it became more about the writing, more about throwing out words and hoping ppl would like them enough to respond and tell me if this skill I’ve been working on for years on my own is any good and worth sharing. 

do you have any fanfic goals for the new year? Finish. Shit.

Lololol. That is the one thing I told myself starting this fanfic venture, that if I was going to sink time into this hobby I needed to use it productively. TBH I have close to no experience getting to the end of a story, especially in my non-fandom writing. Anytime I get to an ending with my fanfic-- even in short fic-- it feels like a victory. Unfortunately, when it comes to long stuff, I’m still not always able to get to the end without getting into my head and self-sabotaging, so that’s something I’d really like to work on going foward. Finishing the wips I have, because I know it’s good for me as a writer, not to say anything about my poor, poor readers who I *know* would dearly love to see where the story ends since they can’t see inside my brain. 

most popular story of the year? In terms of kudos, that would be the dinluke fic Lukewarm. A sickfic which was really just an excuse to use the pun “lukewarm” and then within the body of the story it never even happened. Sigh. In terms of hits the bobadinluke In other words has double Lukewarm’s hits and while it’s true it is longer, I have had ppl tell me they re-read that one despite it not being done yet, so I feel like that has to be part of it, too. 

story most under-appreciated? Oooooooooooh!!! Hahhahahaha my poor, sweet, little Teen Wolf Chris Argent/ Sheriff Stilinski!!! By the way they held their eyes has a LOT working against it: it’s a rarepair and it’s short and it’s preslash, so I’m not shocked it hasn’t done well by literally ANY metric, but I still have a fondness for it, I think the writing in it is solid, and I’ll just cradle that fic to my chest and whisper it’s still lovely and worthwhile even if very few ppl ever read it, haha!

most fun story to write? Oh, they all are in their own ways. If they weren’t I’d probably skip writing it. 

most unintentionally telling story? Again: Oh, they all are in their own ways lolololololol! I think it’s interesting to see what people think they glean about me from what I write, and anytime the topic comes up I’m always thrilled to listen, because the truth is I DONT really know what I’m letting slip about myself from these stories, but every now and then someone will mention something and I’ll be like WELP. YUP. I really DID put that out there for everyone to see, huh?? haha, so if anyone wants to tell ME what they’ve deduced, fire away. 

biggest disappointment? That I’ve done all this writing, have had so many wonderful people comment and engage with the fic, and encourage me, and tell me I’m pretty (writing-wise) and I’m STILL an insecure, mopey, anxious so-and-so. Biggest disappointment was that maybe the problem with not feeling “good enough” was actually inside me all along. 

So that’s something that’ll have to be addressed in the coming year. biggest surprise? Toss up, between starting a server to try to manipulate people into writing me more bobadinluke to read and it WORKING... and getting into Teen Wolf, a fandom that I swore every which way to MANY people on MULTIPLE occasions that I would never, never, never read fic or watch the show for and oooooooops. Look at me now! 🤡

my favorite part of fandom this year: Ugh. Just. All of it. ALL OF IT. Seriously, I never expected to come back to fandom after I left the last time years ago. I never thought I’d be writing fanfic again, never thought I’d have people read my stuff, and reach out, and talk to me. I never thought I’d have this many friends in fandom, especially such GOOD friends. This year was supposed to be extra lonely for me, between the pandemic and having a falling out with my most important person, but it wasn’t. I have people I talk to every day, I have people I have *interesting* conversations with that challenge me, I have people I admire that send me stupid memes that make me laugh. I have people I can reach out to when I need someone, and people that reach out to ME like I’m maybe just as important to them, too. I have so much more than I ever dreamed I’d have and it’s all here, in this dumb internet machine, but it’s all been lovely, and I can’t thank you all enough for what you’ve all done for me this past year 💜 Kudos to anyone that made it this far, you’re the true MVP

[thewriterowl]

Are there any modern au Dinluke tropes that you really enjoy, apart from the ones you've already written of course? ^^

Modern? Hmmm...good one. Let me think.

So, I dunno why (though @drooliesblog can attest to this) I love Baker!Luke. I think it is my favorite job for him, potentially more so than him as a teacher. There is just something soft about it that I really like. And I love bread, omg, I love bread. I also think I like this cause while Luke will always be small and have great arms, I like that maybe he has softness to him physically. A soft Luke with a sexy Din is a dream (I'm not saying Din having an 6-pack but I just want to live through Luke and so I want to see someone who is not just perfectly built get with someone hot--cause it just doesn't seem to happen...well not with women and hot men and i need some way to help my insecurities, dang it).

Annywaaay...so yeah, I think there is something super cute about that.

Of course, while that's my favorite I love him as a teacher, librarian, paramedic, etc. etc.

Them being neighbors is *chef's kiss*. Maybe they live in a place that gets snow storms and they are snowed in their apartment and Luke help provides food for Din and his son.

Din being ridiculously good at engineering stuff, so he helps Luke with his stuff (like a broken oven) in return for honey bread and cookies. This could be his job or something he's good at.

Oh man, the idea of Trainer!Din with Baker!Luke who is looking to lose some weight/gain muscles (which he doesn't; he's healthy! but he's insecure) and the flirting that will take between the two of them. Maybe Din showing off by easily picking Luke up, pinning him down in sparring, etc. Din also gets all sorts of goodies.

Loooove the Hockey!Din trend happening. He is super sexy as that. Maybe Luke is not really in the sports scene but his nephew, Finn, wins tickets to meet the team and his parents can't come so Luke takes him and they meet and Luke is like swooning over the grogeous captain who is so kind to his nephew. maybe Din is swooning right back when he sees Luke include Grogu in things, getting the two kids as friends (it's all about the kids lol)

Maybe CIA/FBI either with Luke as a witness, or they are both agents (so we can get some Javier action). Look, I'm a 30-something year old white girl...you know I am in the stereotype of being way to into true crime and murder and serial killers. Something of them working together is great. I was never too big into Criminal Minds (the idea of it, yes, the execution often left me wishing for better) but Luke as Reid and Din as Morgan would be amazing too; working together, flirting often, as they catch terrible people. That is nice.

I dunno why, but I'm not too big on Luke being an actor. However, he can be a voice-actor, I am very ok with that lol maybe he does stuff in cartoons Grogu watches and maybe there is a fan meet and greet and Din takes him to meet Luke.

Professors are amazing for them too! Ugh, I dunno if I could settle on what they would teach in truth. I can see them do so many subjects. But they're from different departments and maybe need to do some sort of research or project together (or there is a department rivalry as that is possible) and they meet and it's just sooooo nerdy and romantic. They meet in the library or coffee shops to figure things out, both just pulling their hair out over their students (they share their horror stories and the worst test/paper responses they ever had). They just have to spend so much time together and they sort of flirt in the language of academia.

Farmer's Market meet-up? Din new and taking Grogu to the farmer's market and meets Luke???

Ugh, so many possibilities. So, so many.

I will say I am secretly working on a Modern AU multi-chapter fic as I finish up Sunlight and Hope XD I hope for that to be the next story.

[quirkless-deku-aus]

So um hi, I'm new to this fandom but please hear me out. How about a Tarzan-ish/Tribe DinLuke AU :D

This idea had been pestering me for the past 3 days now but I don't have the time right now to write a whole fanfic but I do have something short written and drawn for it.

SUMMARY:

So Luke, Leai, Han, Chewbacca, Artoo and Threepio went to explore the heart of a huge rain forest (idk what to call it yet) themselves because Leai believes that Gideon's so-called "Expedition" in the said forest is bantha shit and he's actually planning on destroying it. The worst part is that the Senate Council isn't doing anything about it. They're scared for the all of the life forms on that forest so they wanted to take down Gideon by gathering some evidence. When the news about a plane crashing somewhere in the forest took over the internet, they decided to check it out. What they didn't know, however, is that hidden tribes also reside in that forest and they're about to be pulled into something more than they bargained for.

--X--

This is my design for Luke. He still wears his iconic Poncho tho but I don't have the time to draw it yet sksksk Grogu finds him very interesting. He knows ALS and that's why he can communicate with Grogu. Din also finds him very interesting ;D

This is what I imagine Grogu would look like 0u0 he's...an escapee of some sort. He may or may not be selectively mute but he's very cautious of other people. He's very much attached to Din though.

He was on the plane that crashed in the forest, not sure how he survived, he just did. Din found him after he and some of his men decided to investigate the crash site. They took him in but Grogu doesn't have a skull mask of his own yet because he hasn't been officially blessed (?) as part of their tribe since he can't tell them his name. Until Luke came in that is hehe

I had a hard time coming up for Din's design but ngl I think he turned out great. The skull is supposed to be a Mythosaur but I didn't remember it's existence after I finished coloring Din :"D Please note that the color may vary from different screen to screen so it may be paler or darker than my original color palette for him >o< 

Din can understand and speak Basic (English) but he doesn't want to because of his anger towards outsiders. He's fiercely protective of Grogu and a jerk to Luke but he started to lighten up after seeing that they're just here to help them take down Gideon. Luke received extra cookies points for helping them get Grogu officially adopted into their tribe. The claws I was talking about on the sketchpad was his weapon/gloves I think.

Without his skull mask, he kinda looks like Lapu-Lapu (a hero here in the Philippines) because I imagine him with long hair or a mullet. I'll try to draw that when I get the time sksksk

--X--

ALTERNATIVE DARK HIDDEN TRIBE AU (ART CONCEPT COMING SOON):

The thing is that I don't know if I wan't to stick with this plot, I kinda like the idea of Dark!Din more where he captures the group so they could kill them for...food??? Yup, cannibals but I suck at this kind of trope that's why I usually just reads them. *cough* Hannibal *cough* So yeah, it could be a dark ending where they're killed except for Luke who's forced to be Din's spouse. It doesn't help that Grogu likes him and you know that Din would do anything for his precious son.

--X--

BONUS ART (WITHOUT COLOR THO BECAUSE MY FINGER IS KILLING ME):

Grogu is scared of Han for some reason I can't remember 😭 I was writing all of my sleep-deprived ramblings on my sketchpad but yeah, Grogu finds Luke very interesting so he kept following them. They recognized him as one of the missing children on the plane but Grogu was very adamant that he doesn't want to go back. Han suggested that they turn him over for some cash rewards which caused Grogu to cry and for both the Skywalker Twins to smack Han on the back of his head.

It's confrontation time! >:3

So Luke was captured by Boba Fett and was brought to Din since many claims that they saw Grogu with him. The problem is that Grogu was currently with Leia since they all got chased by Gideon's men and they had no choice but to split up. They were after Luke specifically so he gave Grogu to his sister when they split up. Din is furious and he had every right to be so, too bad Luke had to endure his wrath. Luke tries to explain but Din was having none of it and he was about to execute Luke then and there when Grogu comes in to save his ass.

"Grogu wait-!"

Grogu stood in front of Luke with his arms stretched out, "Buir, no!"

Everyone was in stunned silence.

Din was the first one to recover and he easily side-stepped Grogu to point his spear at Luke once more.

"What did you call him?" His voice was so deep and grave that Luke couldn't help shivering from it.

"Answer me."

Luke wetted his lips, "Grogu. That's his name."

"You can understand him." It wasn't even a question.

"Yes."

--X--

That's all! Thank you so much for coming to my TED talk :DDD

I also publish it on AO3 if any of you guys are interested 0u0/

I’ll add the link a little bit later

[solarprophecy]

I posted 1,836 times in 2021

10 posts created (1%)

1826 posts reblogged (99%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 182.6 posts.

I added 819 tags in 2021

#pedro pascal - 282 posts

#unf - 201 posts

#lol - 69 posts

#to read - 56 posts

#mandalorian - 52 posts

#writing inspiration - 37 posts

#lolol - 34 posts

#my fave look - 33 posts

#writing advice - 30 posts

#i'm fucking dying - 25 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i should not have to be hammering the volume buttons like i'm playing donkey kong or some shit when i'm just trying to watch a fuckin movie

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

itsnotchancemrholmesitschess is now solarprophecy

I did it! I changed my name. Wasn’t my first (or second, or third, or fourth) choice, but...at least it’s shorter? 

It’s from one of my favorite songs (”Red Blood, Clay, and Dust”) by one of my favorite bands (Cylab), which partly inspired the vampire novel I’m working on (but don’t hold your breath, I’ve been working on it for literally a decade now, with no end in sight. Without even a real PLOT in sight. sigh.)

Anyway. This is me. Hi! :)

1 notes • Posted 2021-09-07 23:17:33 GMT

#4

S.

Oooo ooo this is about that fanfic meme, right? Thanks for asking me to play! [also just btw, Nature and Nurture, Saving Sherlock Holmes, and The Bang and the Clatter are 3 of my all time fave fics <3]

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

I'm definitely a sucker for "there was only one bed" and the whole "fake marriage/pretend boyfriend" range. I love reading those tropes and in fact I'm writing a dinluke fic at this very moment in which they are, simultaneously, how they meet, if you can believe it. LOL. (Fingers crossed that I actually finish and post this one....)

And what was that post going around tumblr today about 'it's not actually unrequited, they're just stupid'? If that's a trope, then it's my favorite. That's probably in every fic I read (and I expect it will be in every fic I write). Or, perhaps more accurately, 'it's not unrequited, they're just insecure'.

I invite anyone who reads this and wants to play to answer G!

[I reblogged the meme here a while ago if you need it for reference]

2 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 04:09:50 GMT

#3

Have you ever noticed how hard it is NOT to make caves in movies look like vaginas? Like, they just look like big ole snatches. Remember the Katric Ark in Star Trek 2009?

Yeah.  Talk about mud flaps, this cave’s got ‘em.

So I really have to hand it to the makers of The Mandalorian. I was SO impressed the first time I watched S1E2 and realized the mudhorn cave did NOT in any way resemble a vagina.

...They made it look like a giant asshole instead :PPPP

See the full post

3 notes • Posted 2021-10-19 07:10:14 GMT

#2

thinking about changing my tumblr name...

I’m thinking about changing my tumblr handle.

I’m still a fan of Sherlock, but it’s not, like, the defining feature of my tumblr anymore. In fact I don’t want to use a name that’s tied to any particular fandom; I want to use something that represents me in general (or my interests in general). Also my current handle is a real fucking mouthful lol.

Surprisingly, I can’t really find any info on what can and can’t be used in a tumblr name, but I get the impression from looking at my follower/following list that (a) there can’t be any capital letters or spaces and (b) the only punctuation that can be used is a hyphen, but also (c) hyphens maybe aren't a good idea because they can’t be included in hashtags, or so I’ve read. 

Is that accurate? Are there other naming rules/recommendations I should know about? Thanks in advance if anyone has advice!!

3 notes • Posted 2021-09-07 01:35:55 GMT

#1

Today on Now That I’ve Been Diagnosed with Autism™

I always assumed nobody actually *enjoys* having their naked skin in contact with someone else’s naked skin, because your skin sticks together (even if it’s not really sweaty) and it hurts, but we all just pretend to like it because that’s a sacrifice you make for intimacy and love and blah blah blah. 

[I should clarify; I’m not talking about sex, I’m talking about cuddling or sleeping with your partner and having any uncovered bit of your body pressed up against or lying on/under any uncovered bit of their body.]

But just now it has occurred to me to wonder - do other people, like ... *not* feel that way? Does it not hurt for some people? Do you actually *like* having your naked cheek (or other body part) smushed on your partner’s naked shoulder (or other body part)?? Inquiring minds want to know pls share thx :P

3 notes • Posted 2021-07-10 16:24:26 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[thewriterowl]

Do you have a standard writing process? Particularly with long fics? I start out plotting everything to some degree and then start writing but then usually what happens is I get too excited to share it so I start posting before I finish and then my mental health just kinda goes "and we're not finishing that"

Hello! Well I try to sort of do the same--that’s how I did it with Stars. But yeah, getting all the details out can burn you out quicker than what’s fair :/

So what I’ve sort of learned to do (especially coming out from What the Stars Let in, since that thing was nearly 500 pages in like three months) was the following:

1) I had major focus points already confirmed in my head: I knew Din and Luke would have an arranged marriage, I knew I wanted Luke to share his story to the Mandalorians, I wanted Luke to fight Dark Troopers, I wanted Din to have a moment or two of jealousy, I wanted there to be a “betrayal’ from Din, I wanted Luke to sacrifice himself by stopping and moving a cruiser, i wanted them to be separated, I wanted Din to have a moment facing darkness, and then I want them together. Besides a bare skeletal structor of a story (din and luke fall in love in an arranged marriage) i focused on story-points I wanted to see happen and made it a goal to get to one....and then get to another and it made me more excited for the plot point coming next rather than trying to rush to that ending.

2) For the scenes I was really excited about I wrote a rough draft instantly. I pretty much had a draft of Luke stopping the cruiser and then “dying” since chapter two because I knew I wanted that to happen. Same with the Dark Trooper chapter. Of course a lot of details were added or changed as the story progressed but i was able to really plan things because not only did I know I wanted those scenes, I had them written out so I could figure out how to foreshadow things in regards to them easier.

3) Although I am influenced by my readers and I try to keep things “Realistic” in the story (aka, why I didn’t turn Din dark though it was a temptation) I write what I want to read. This, of course, can hinder the writing process cause you’re putting a lot of extra love into it because, being honest, i want it to inspire others to write things like it so I can read something next so if it is not well received then it can be a bad sucker-punch...but I was just like, i gotta get these moments out there regardless of the response.

4) This isn’t the best advice...but I wrote when i wanted to...basically I am mostly working from home and in a job I loathe who has drained me of most all my happiness for the past three years and has used me something bad, but I’m shackled to them cause money. Well...I write on their time now (not on my work computer lol) so I sort of had this momentum of MASSIVE writer’s spite. “Oh, you’re gonna call me in to work on my day off AGAIN????? well, ok then...tomorrow from 8 till 5, I’m writing this space-dad fic and only answering some emails”. Maybe not risk your job for a fic...but i would recommend see if you can find some sort of spite to influence you case man, that stuff works maaagiiiic. 

5) Push through the block but not necessarily in a way that burns you out. If you can’t write out the chapter you are currently on, then don’t. Skip five or more scenes ahead and just start there and then go back later and tie things in. You do not have to write your fic in chronological order, so don’t shackle yourself to it. You on a scene with Din and Luke talking about the Force, it’s needed and important, but eh, you’re not feeling it? Go on and write their love confession scene. Or their fight scene. Or something you actually DO wanna write. Go read fics, maybe go and talk to artists and writers about general things and chat. Talking to others about things, not necessarily in detail, can be huge.

6) Bringing in the things I’ve said before; this is not something you need to write chronological--so don’t. The writing can be a fun puzzle. Write the parts you want first (aka the corners as many start with as they do a puzzle) and then start connecting things. I found it a lot easier and a bit more fun to do that way.

7) If possible, and this can be hard, try to be a chapter a head of your updates. With a good chunk of Stars, I was like seven chapters ahead of myself. Not so much with this new one (and for sure not with Little Bird) but it sort of releases some worry and pressure off of you. If you have an idea for a fic, try to see if you can upload it once you have two or there chapters written (not edited, that can come as you get read to upload) and it makes you have a deadline but one that isn’t looming.

8) I also gave myself a deadline. I wanted to update at least once a week. This may not work for everyone, so it’s just about figuring out what works for you...but I think I would recommend you set up a realistic goal on how often you update.

9) Just focus on one chapter at a time as you upload. A multi-chap fic can be so easy to get lost in (I may not update some of my Avengers fic) and that’s fine. It’s disappointing and sad, for yourself, but it happens and it should not be a burden on you. You’re writing these things for fun and if it doesn’t work out, well sucks...but there was no harm or waste to it. Some free content just won’t get finished. Happens every day and it’s all good. You just take up the next wave of inspiration and try to get it finished.

10) Ensure you have fun and keep other fun projects available. That mental stuff loves to take away fun, passionate projects. it’s a miserable monster that just wants to suck you dry from it. Take yourself from the project on occasion and write a one shot (these things are miserably hard for me) and use it as an exercise. It challenges you in a different way, gets you to do something new, and can give you and your mental-monster some whiplash so that it can’t instantly take it away from you.

11) If you lose your hyper fixation/love for a pairing, don’t grip on to it for the sake of a fic. I love DinLuke now and I don’t see that changing anytime soon...but when/if it does, I’ll need to just step back and let it go and wait for it to hit in another wave later. Just enjoy the fandom as a fan and you should have a lot more joy and ease in taking part of projects that way.

Those are my little tidbits that’s helped me with stuff so far at least!

[darkisrising]

I know I'm super late to the ask game but I love Solus and your take on Prince Luke so much 🥺 If you're still answering, 1, 3, and 9? Also was there ever a BobaDinLuke version?

Oh hey! Solus! No worries, anon, I'd love to talk about that one! 1. What inspired you to write the fic this way? This one was the result of several thoughts coming together. First off, I like to keep a backlog of prompt requests in my ask box for days when I need some inspiration, so I had @elrhiarhodan 's great line "An immobile time not marked on clocks" ringing in my head last time I scrolled through them for ideas. I'd been kicking around an arranged marriage idea for a bit and I kind of liked the idea of this line paired with a still, tense moment of preparing for a wedding the character doesn't necessarily want. I'd also just finished the fic Suum ca'nara where I'd written:

Din tries to imagine it: Luke dressed like some artful Naboo nobleman, at home in places like this marble suite with its gold furnishings and painted ceilings. Luke, who would have learned how to give those polite, empty smiles instead of the suns-bright grins that make Din’s beskar'gam feel incredibly heavy and his helmet far too warm. He understands in his bones the yearning in Luke’s voice for what it is—he’s certainly wondered how his own life might have been if his parents had lived, if things had been different—though he’s selfishly glad that Luke was never raised a son of Naboo. That the laugh that cracks sometimes like wild lightning was never twisted into something tamed and contained.

So I started wondering what that would look like, if he were a "Prince of Naboo" in a verse where maybe the title was hereditary, where Padme had lived, but Anakin had still turned. A Luke that's more rich kid Kardashian/Hilton/someone else who would turn up in the tabloids for being the kid of someone famous and kind of a hot mess fascinating disaster. Lastly, I somehow tied it all together by thinking of Beauty and the Beast but instead of the Beast hiding the rose in the west wing, it's Grogu because Din's afraid of the Empire finding out his son can use the Force. I know, it's a looooooot of ideas crammed into such a short, small little fic, lolol. I promise not all my fic's inspirations are THIS convoluted! 3. What’s your favorite line of narration?

I like sentences that kind of have a twist to them, so I liked this one where Luke is describing the arranged marriage from his POV:

The Mandalorians had required a hostage and Luke knew his place well enough to accept his fate when the Emperor, himself, had commed his mother with the happy news.

And just that play on the concept of "hostage" and "accepting fate" with the Emperor comming with the "happy news"... yeah, I liked that one is all. 9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic? Not alternate, no. This basically came out all at once. I can comfortably write about 2k in a day if I have the time and if my thoughts are all arranged and ready to be put down. I got this nearly 4k out all at once, and I remember it was really a battle between the idea and my endurance, but I wanted to get it out that night so I pushed on, finished, posted, and promptly passed out, lolol. I had a vague idea of where it would go after-- a whole "taking down the Emperor" type narrative-- but I got derailed by a couple of the comments and never really recovered interest. But it's really nice to hear that someone out there liked this darker take on a Prince Luke! As for BobaDinLuke, this was really at the end of my DinLuke writing and at the verrrrry beginning of my interest in the OT3, so no it never occured to me to have Boba show up in this world. Though now that you mention it, it could be interesting if Boba is sent to Mandalore as the Empire's bounty hunter. Give him a darker edge, too. Fun times! Thanks for playing!

[haeroniel-doliet]

Ok but genuinely? Genuinely what the Fuck is Up with tumblrs tagging system???? I realize its basically a joke at this point and i cant expect it to fix it self but.

Ive made two unique tags for my art right??? "#Haeroniel draws" for everything and "#Haeroniels 2021 inktober" bc idk this is how it used to work?? You'd make an art tag and link it on your blog and everyone can find your art in one convenient place/all is archived for you! But for the life of me all my posts wont show up in those tags.

Right now i think if i look up the inktober tag on my blog all 4 posts show up which is fine. Look tumblr wide? Only 3 show up if youre lucky (and not the one with most notes mind u!!!) Looking up my art tag on my blog shows some and the tumblr wide even less? Like for the most part both have my two most successful posts, and they might have the two most recent (yeah thats it for all not inktober related, im such a poster lmao) but then even if theyre all tagged very similarly, only 1 or maybe 2 posts for inktober show up?

Ughhhhhh. Makes me kind of understand why people have pinned masterposts now. Like im sorry but ive been here long enough that i thought it was just a weird carryover from newer social media like the tag lists and thought nah thats silly i dont want that. But now?? I cant even look up my own tags for myself to see my own art reliably archived.... And thats VERY frustrating, and yea i currently dont have my art tag linked bc havent set up my desktop page etc in a while but? How is anyone who might care even a little bit supposed to see my stuff?

The inktobers are some beasts of posts i will grant that, like 5 images top to bottom and description for all and then a bunch of tags? Its a lot! I know it is. But i wanna finish the lot bc im so close (minus a few that just need refining, i only have 4/10 of the ones left not drawn!!) And thanks to some suggestion i am considering maybe maybe maybe posting the last 10 (or at least 5/10) as individual posts rather than a big cluster. Itd feel nice to populate my art tag w more posts! Maybe give them a fighting chance to get reblogged bc its less of a threshold than reblogging 5 very different concepts all together. ToBut then again. If barely any show up with the sparse amount i have now? Is it worth it?

Also i just. Suddenly feel awful using all the tags i do on my posts to be seen, like tagging it /dinluke/skydalorian/din djarin/luke skywalker/star wars/the mandalorian/etc... Bc idk? I feel like most people would follow all the above tags, and what if me posting my shit in all of them is annoying bc then even if you mildly liked my stuff, seeing it over and over makes you hate it? Like im intruding all at once in a lot of spaces with super cool artists....

And like, i knoooow that notes arent everything and i should learn to post again just bc i like what ive done, wanna share and archive it. But doing something i like and i thought others would too? And it doing really badly? Uh. Stings! Makes me feel like ive fucked up posting it and shouldnt. Feels selfish and obnoxious to post more, to demand more attention to my garbage content

Im letting my brain get mean where it doesnt need to....

Anyway... If you've happened to read this (im sorry but thank you!) Pls like, let me know in reply or anon ask or smth if im completely over thinking it and should just, post more (i.e. post the inktobers when theyre done individually, rather than trying to make up the whole batch before posting them as those hunks of post that dont do very well) And also, if maybe i should make one of those pinned masterposts? Like even just to have for myself/anyone new who clicks on my blog (under a read more bc long unavoidable posts suck), where i link individually everything i post on top of the tags i already have?

Thank u kind souls who care about me even a lil bit in the tumblr void <3 <3 <3<3