#yes it is related to the halloween WIP

[ezlebe]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Call of Duty (Video Games) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: John "Soap" MacTavish/Simon "Ghost" Riley Characters: John "Soap" MacTavish, Simon "Ghost" Riley, Kyle "Gaz" Garrick, John Price (Call of Duty) Additional Tags: Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023) Spoilers, Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023), Fix-It, Blood, Blood Kink, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood Drinking, Blood Magic, Frottage, Unconventional Vampirism, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Vampire Summary:

John closes the door behind him, watching while Ghost does an awkward pace, then thumps onto the bed. It’s patently some attempt to appear collected, rather than crawling out of his skin with some emotion that John can’t quite identify but can certainly see. He can see, as well, Ghost still won’t look at him, as if staring over his head is any sort of subtle.

Ghost offers a low grunt. “What.”

John takes a harsh breath, leaning over the bed to forcibly catch Ghost’s eyes where they’re fixed at the ceiling. “I should be asking you that?”

Ghost peeks in any direction he can to avoid John’s face.

[skierisa]

okay, first time making a comic since forever (or since when i was 13) how bad is the panel composition (i might change the last one btw)

[sea-lanterns]

Hi! I found your blog yesterday and I wanna say I love love loooooooooove the Empress!AU 🥹 Just wanna know if you will continue with the Empress!AU?

And I’m just curious how each Courtersans know/heard about the Empress that make them easily agree to be with her?

Hello! Welcome to the aquarium!

Yes, I am still continuing with the Empress AU, as it’s a huge part of my blog and I enjoy writing things for it. I’m currently busy with my Halloween Event at the moment, so fics for the Empress AU are backed up behind a line of other WIPs. Besides that however, to answer your second question:

The Empress is a very influential figurehead throughout Teyvat. Her influence and fame is on par with Ningguang, Miko, Neuvilette, etc. so she’s very well known in all regions. For lore purposes (I will get into this at some point) the Empress’ family is extremely blessed and any relation to her family is one that many people wish to seek. Since the Empress’ family is very well known and powerful, people all across Teyvat wish to hold contracts with them and build relationships for the sake of good fortune.

For the Empress, contracts for her come in the form of courtship. Women who are influential enough (or just catch the eye of the Empress) are able to form a contract with the Empress and her family by becoming a courtesan. Women who enter this kind of status are blessed with many benefits in life, including money, fame, luck, good health, and of course: a beautiful partner. (Or partners since courtesans are free to mingle with one another)

I will make a whole lore post at some point with the Empress AU, but this is a summarized version of why so many people are interested in becoming the Empress’ courtesans :)

[imactuallyreallycool]

FREE PALESTINE 🇵🇸

WELCOME TO MY BLOG :) 💙💛

If you follow me, you're actually really cool too :)

MY LINKTREE

It's mainly a byler/ stranger things fan art blog. There will probably be other fandoms at some point but my byler brainroit is real lol. My asks are open at the moment. If you want to use my art as an icon just @/credit me in your description (not that anyone wants to/ has asked me lol) also maybe ask before lolll, I'll probably say yes.

- My Adult! Byler fan art is tagged with #Adult! Byler ...obviously lol

- My complete artworks are tagged with #🎨

- Music related #🎶

- Video related #🎥

- My WIPs are tagged with #art wip

- timelapse #art timelapse

- My polls

- My latest art post - HALLOWEEN BYLER

- My tips #imactuallyreallycool art tips

- MY FIRST DTIYS and PUMPKIN BYLER DTIYS

Anyway...

Here's some music artist I like:

Crumb (the band)

Tyler, the Creator

Kendrick Lamar

Sir Chloe

Weyes Blood

[cheriekos]

The Haunting of Wayne Manor - Unedited Excerpt (Birdflash Ghost AU)

Hello once again sharing a WIP because it’s sucking the life out of me. This snippet is from my autumn Birdflash WIP (currently titled, tentatively, The Haunting of Wayne Manor - not at all related to the haunting series I literally accidentally, subconsciously stole the title and now it’s stuck lol). It is a Ghost AU! It was meant to be a short, cute little Halloween vibe type of fic and then my brain sabotaged me and now there’s plot. So now I’m spending a lot more time on it than I anticipated. Here’s an itty bitty piece from it. Unbeta’d, very unedited, probably some spelling & grammar mistakes in here. This excerpt may not end up in the final fic and may be altered later on. Happy reading!

Birds chirping, the scratching of the branches at the window - then the laughter of a boy, right at his ear, hot breath causing goosebumps to rise.

Wally nearly jumps out of skin. He takes two shaky steps backwards, flashlight wildly chasing the figure in front of him. Between one blink and the next, he sees colors of red and gold, little accents of green - he blinks again, and the first thing his eyes land on is a scarf. When he finally breathes, lets clarity clear his vision, he realizes - he knows that scarf. Old, pilling, but still the warmest thing he owned - covered in the scent of Aunt Iris's autumn candles.

Green eyes meet blue. Wally feels the cufflinks, warm against his chest.

"It's you." Wally breathes. "Dick Grayson."

The lights blink rapidly, churning to life above them. The clock on the nightstand begins to tick, tick, tick. All at once, the room seems to come alive again - and the young man in front of him takes a deep breath. Like the one you take after having been submerged underwater for so long.

"My name," He says, in wonderment. "You know my name." 

"It wasn't easy to find," Wally says, still staring in disbelief. "You weren't easy to find."

"No, I -" He blinks, words stoping abruptly. He touches the red scarf - a move that seems more of our habit than anything else. "That doesn't seem right."

Wally feels his chest ache - this was exactly what he hoped wouldn't happen.

"I found your name in a really old article from a Metropolis newspaper," Wally says, unsure of what to do that now he had Dick here. Momentarily tangible and present, no longer wayward in the veil. "Someone really didn't want Dick Grayson's name to stick around. I tried every source in Gotham, even trying to find old records at city hall -"

"Seriously?" Dick says, incredulous. "You did that? Just to speak to me again?"

"Well - yes." Wally crosses his arms. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"We spoke once," Dick says, almost arguing. "You could've written me off as some hallucination or some weird kid pulling a prank on you -"

"And I didn't," Wally says. "I believed it when you said you were a ghost and needed your name. It took me a while, but - I did it. I'm here." 

And what now? Those were the words he didn't speak out loud. 

Dick continues to stare at him, lips slightly open as he took in Wally and his response. Wally felt a strange sense of deja vu roll over him - this wasn't the first time Dick Grayson tried to pry some knowledge out of him by staring him down. He gestures to Dick, trying to deflect some attention of himself.

"You grew," Wally remarks. "Last time I saw you, you were barely ten."

"I died when I was twenty," Dick says, absentmindedly. He blinks a few times, then looks away from Wally. "I think."

"Twenty," Wally says, quietly. Twenty. Only a year younger than Wally. Barely in college. Couldn't even legally drink yet. Some many milestones never reached, so many years lost - it makes Wally's chest ache. There's very few moments where dealing with ghosts truly hurts. Helping elderly ghosts find their way to whatever their end was, that didn't hurt so bad. Kids - that sucked. Teenagers were rare. This? This felt visceral. Looking into the face of someone who could've been Wally's classmate or friend, had they been born together in the right era. 

He swallows down his empathy for now. "Why'd I meet you as a kid, then?"

"...I'm not really sure," Dick says, softly. "I don't really remember. I just felt like - there was light in the house. And I wanted to match it."

"Light?" Wally asks.

"Yes," Dick says. "You."

"...Oh," Wally says, faintly. Don't get hung up on that, West. "Light - as in...?"

"Like..." He reaches for the scarf again, twisting the edge of it between his fingers. "Playing outside in autumn. Drinking from the hose after playing in the dirt for too long. Climbing up trees and scraping my knees while doing so."

"Like being a kid." Wally says.

"Yeah," Dick says, gaze sliding back to Wally's. "Something like that."

"And now?" Wally says, looking at Dick up and down. "You're an adult because...?"

"I suppose it's because you are. Same light - just bigger. Brighter." Dick shrugs. He taps the scarf. "Helps that I have this."

"Yeah, helps with being more - tangible." Wally says.

"Oh?" Dick says, with a quirk of the lips that felt strangely dangerous to Wally. "An expert in ghosts, now are we?"

"For your information - yes, yes I am." Wally says, puffing out his chest slightly. "I have nine years of ghost hunting and ghost aiding under my belt, thank you very much. The only person who knows better than me is - is the guy I met on the ghost hunting forums when I was twelve."

Dick gives him a dead stare. "Forums?"

"...Oh my God, you probably died in the 1950's, didn't you?"

Dick's eyes widen. "What year is it?"

[rightpastnowhere]

Perc’ahlia Week Countdown - Day Three

If you can’t count on me to catch up like I keep promising, then you can at least count on me to be consistent <3

Day Three — Mask / Trinket

(yes the prompts are in a diff order on the collage but i wanted the heart to be visible)

And as usual, some brainstorming!!

Mask

Percy’s mask, “Darling, take the mask off” (c1 e33 / tlovm s1 e12)

Masquerade balls, disguises

Modern AU spa day/facial masks, modern AU Halloween, COVID AU if you really want

Vex’s false confidence/bravado masks, Percy’s mask of nobility, masking for neurodivergent/queer headcanons

Trinket

Trinket, obviously - his relationship with Percy (they were buddies as early as the home campaign!), Percy spoiling him

Trinket and the de Rolo babies, and also Charlie!!

Percy making things for Vex, Vex perhaps making things for Percy, Percy making little trinkets and toys for the kids

Seeing trinkets that remind them of each other, collecting things, shopping for things together, fidget trinkets

Day Three of Perc’ahlia Week will be Tuesday, September 26th!! I don’t know about all of you, but I’m getting really excited!! Head on over to @percahliaweek for more information, and don’t forget to tag your posts - WIPs and anything else related!! - with #percahliaweek !!

[tiggyfiretiger]

Soooo…. I have been inspired and I drew a thing! As you guys know, I love Barnaby and I’ve been obsessed with him for a while and even made a ask blog where you can ask him questions and I’d draw a picture, responding to the question as Barnaby! So, I was reading facts about him the other day and it said….

I was wondering how or what Barnaby does to handle these types of situations where people want to die of old age, since he doesn’t have any time related powers. That’s when I realized: Barnaby needs a little assistant to help him murder his party guests!

So, I’d like to introduce you all to my first BBU OC, Bartholomew the bat!

(Psssst! If you turn him upside down and look at his face, ignore the ears, you’ll see a little Easter egg in the outline of the head! Could that be the outline of Barnaby’s head?!)

I would’ve liked to choose a time related name for him, but Bartholomew was his WIP name and…. I think his name fits him quite well!

Now, Bartho here has Time magic. I had to come up with all of this from scratch, since the game isn’t out yet and no time related characters have been revealed, but basically, Bartho can manipulate time on himself and on others. He can make himself and others look and feel any age he wants, using his magic, he has technically found a way to make himself immortal by rewinding time on himself, as a result, he has lived countless lives, so his backstory can be anything you want! If you can think it, he’s probably lived it!

(This makes him kinda OP, i know, but I honestly can’t think of any drawbacks to this power, so if you have a suggestion, feel free to leave a comment!)

When Bartho went to go join Barnaby’s party, Bartho surprised Barnaby by saying that he wanted all the deaths that Barnaby could possibly think of. Barnaby questioned it of course, but when Bartho explained what he could do, I’d like to imagine that Barnaby probably had a heart attack out of joy! XD

Compared to Barnaby, Bartho is extremely tiny! About the size of a mouse! Barnaby can definitely eat him, if he wanted to!

I’d like to think that he is a clockmaker who loves clocks and watches and loves to fix them!

One of my favorite ideas I’ve come up for Bartho is that when he sleeps, he sways from side to side like a pendulum on a clock!

Concept art tiiime!

These were Bartho’s concepts, and they’re not pretty. I was going to post these the other day, but after looking at them some more, I decided that I wasn’t happy with either of them, and needed to go back to the drawing board and make something that I’m actually happy with! And yes, Bartho did have a tail at one point, but I quickly scrapped that idea, created a inspirational board on Pinterest, and tried to get inspired. The things that inspired Bartho’s design is Steampunk, clocks, other bat OCs, actual bats, furries, Halloween, autumn, and Of course, Barnaby!

I would have loved to have this somewhere on Bartho’s ghost design, but alas, I wanted it to be as easy to draw as Barnaby is, adding this would complicate things a lot. So I opted for a finished hourglass, signaling that his time alive is finished and that he has no need to keep track of time anymore. Because he can’t keep track of time in his ghost form, Bartho prefers to stay alive, but isn’t afraid of death, since he can just rewind time on himself. (Yay!!! My version of time magic is broken and OP! LOL!)

Before you guys ask, yes, you may make art of Bartho, just credit me as the creator of Bartho and show me if you do decide to draw them! I’d love to see! Oh! And tag it with #Bartho bat, that way I could find it easier!

[shootingstarpilot]

trick or treat! 👻 🎃🍫

(since you said you’d take requests: wip sneak-peak or pic of your notebook/writing space?)

Happy Halloween!! Because you asked, you get both <3

A snippet of the upcoming chapter:

"Stitch, you got first shift?" "Yes, Helix." Helix catches Ben's puzzled look as he settles back against the wall. "Technically, we're on leave," he says quietly. "We don't have to have someone on shift in the medbay. But it makes us all feel better." He grins, rolls his eyes- "And besides, with this lot, it's always better to be ready." "Oh." Qui-Gon doesn’t know about needing to watch all the time. He doesn’t know that Ben lies awake in bed for the whole night, sometimes, watching the door, because no one else is around to do it. And he doesn’t know that Ben sometimes creeps out into the living room, in the dark and dusty quiet of the very early mornings, and wedges himself behind the sofa and watches. Just to make sure.

And a photo of my collection of notebooks! For the sake of my wallet, I've promised myself that I have to fill every old notebook I have before I buy another one, but I'm also terrible at organization, so each of these notebooks has at least a few pages of something StS-related. Oops.

Come trick-or-treating!

[southpark-trashfactory]

Am I working on Halloween related art? Yes.

Will I finish it by Halloween? Who's to say? Certainly not I with my mountain of WIPs

[hellhoundmaggie]

5 Songs

**Share 5 songs related to your current WIPs (art or writing related)

**If you don’t have a wip, you can share what you like about your top 5!

tagged by @cymatile, thank you cymatile

I usually don't listen to songs with lyrics when writing, because they're too distracting. Often I'll throw on that lo-fi hip-hop beats stream. But I will sometimes listen to a thematic song or two before writing to get in the proper headspace. And how convenient, I made up a playlist for my blorbo, Wayne Scarlethollow! Listen to it why doncha?

There are 13 videos on that list, but I will pick out my Top 5 songs from it and explain them! In no particular order:

1. Mx. Sinister (I Don't Know How But They Found Me)

And I'll get you yet (I'll get you yet) I've got to make you mine Just know I'm not the sinister type

Wayne kind of understands that he strikes people as creepy, but when he tries to be reassuring it just comes off as even creepier. But he's literally neurodivergent and a miner, so I'm willing to give him a pass. In fact, it's part of his charm.

2. I Will Possess Your Heart (Death Cab for Cutie)

How I wish you could see the potential The potential of you and me It's like a book elegantly bound but In a language that you can't read just yet

The way the instrumentals slowly build from a simple bass riff into an intense soundscape over more than four-and-a-half minutes before the vocals even kick in! Gives me chills, folks. Plus the stalker's smug condescension and certainty (or false bravado?) that he will earn his target's love captures Wayne's attitude to a T.

3. The Point of No Return (The Phantom of the Opera)

Past all thought of right or wrong One final question How long should we two wait before we're one?

If you watch the clip from the Royal Albert Hall's 2011 production of PotO, you'll understand why I picked this song. You all can see it, right? I firmly believe that events similar to the PotO scene will play out in Episode 6. Wayne will walk on in to Avery's party, letting the guests assume he's a guy with a bitchin' Halloween costume, and give MC a big ultimatum. MC must either leave their friends to the horrors and go with him to (relative) safety, or stay with them all and probably die. The drama!

4. Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)

Do I alone hear this melody, which wonderfully and softly, lamenting delight, telling it all, mildly reconciling sounds out of him, invades me...

The final aria from Tristan und Isolde captures not only the tragic romance aspect of the Waynemance that I think the devs are building towards, but also how bizarre a Waynemancer MC must be to pass over a bunch of nice, conventionally-attractive people for a scary zombie man. Yes Sybil, Wayne is my friend and we're in love and I am drowning in his song and sweet smell. Why are you looking at me like that?

5. Under Attack (ABBA)

This is getting crazy, I should tell him so Really let my anger show Persuade him that the answer to his questions is a definite no (I'm kind of flattered I suppose)

"Stop following me! uwu" A bouncy 80s pop song is a fun way to close out a playlist full of heavy tracks and serious themes. And yet there's a haunting quality to this one. Again, I don't think the Waynemance is going to end well. But it's going to be a lot of fun, won't it?

Tagging @lytorika, @itsmewahoo, @nimbexy, @shanklinthestabpossum @kris-mage-fics. No pressure!

[broken-everlark]

Fic Tag Game!

I was tagged by the lovely - @nouklea thank you for tagging me in this. I saw everyone else doing it and was excited when you tagged me🥺💕

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

21

2. What’s your AO3 word count?

93,466 -- holy shit.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

I write for The Hunger Games and Wednesday. I have fnaf movie drafts. For, of course, Mikessa/Schelly.🥰

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Black Cat

Does to Me

Pretty Little Poison

High on Me

Doubt & Trust

5. Do you respond to comments?

Almost always. Usually, delete or freeze the hateful ones.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

You are Mine. -- I guess you can count this as angst? I wrote an everlark Halloween related fic, but that was back when I tried writing in first person, and it's not good😅

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

Doubt & Trust. -- I guess. Since I haven't really posted or updated any of my longer fics.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes. I used to get anons on here talking bad about my fics, I used to get a lot recently with my wyler fics, but I usually read and delete. Because if I don't delete or block, I usually will continuously read them and torture myself.

9. Do you write smut? What kind?

Yes, I just recently started writing smut. It's not the greatest, but I used the entire Wyler Kinktober to try & get better. I write any kind I'm comfortable with or one such as Non/con where it's not too graphic, I usually don't write a lot of non/con

10. Do you write cross-overs?

Not really. I don't enjoy when characters meet other characters from other universes.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope.

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

Nope.

13. What WIP would you like to finish but doubt you ever will?

Probably Captive in the Darkness. An everlark fic of mine and a few drafts of everlark that I have scrapped because I just lost motivation.

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

Hmmm... that's really hard. I recently have absolutely love Petroclair & Wyler, schelly. Everlark will always be one of my first ships. I used to love stony & spiderwitch but sorta fell out of those. I guess Everlark can count as an all-time favorite.

15. What are your writing strengths?

Honestly, I think I can write some good gore and horror it's just kinda hard to get the right words sometimes.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

Foreplay & Kissing. It's so hard for me to try and write sexual tension. Honestly, writing sexual intercourse in general, I feel like I'm pretty bad at. Also, it doesn't help that I'm constantly doubting my writing.

17. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I can try but definitely need to use a translate app or something.

18. First fandom you wrote for?

If you want to be technical, I guess IT (2017), but for Ao3, it was Everlark.

19. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

To the Ends of the Earth -- THG fic with httyd au. because I absolutely love httyd & I have so much going for this fic, I just need time to write.

20. What fic would you want to rewrite one day?

Definitely Black Cat or Captive to the Darkness.

(Literally, the only reason why Black cat has so many kudos is because that's when the wyler fandom actually.. nvm.. & it was my first long wyler fic. Other than that, it wasn't great.)

Tagging (idk who has done this😅) --- @iamfandomcrazy @thee-antler-queen @mega-aulover @pookieh @mellarked-katnisseverdeen

[idleglowingpixels]

See now that I've been posting as often as I have this month I feel weird not having any more art or writing to share with y'all :'D XD

I got one more drawing for Halloween I'll be finishing up soon (It's MH-related woo) and then after I see the FNAF movie Halloween night that'll probably take up my mind for a good while, might potentially make posts about that if I feel like it (I already got spoiled for something very minor on accident cause my brother saw this clip from it and sent it to me not knowing it was the actual movie lmao but it's okay, I don't mind it that much 'cause YouTube would've spoiled it anyway)

I might post pics of my jacket when I finish it today too, it's for the Foxy closet cosplay I was gonna do for the movie so ye

Otherwise I'm mainly going back on my writing shit again, trying to finish my WIP goals and such by the end of the year and junk, I'll probably have art in between tho for the hell of it (Got some PPG ideas and miiiiight maybe potentially indulge in the Human!FNAF AU I got caught up in my brain but that remains to be seen =H=")

[sinsley]

I posted 93 times in 2022

That's 87 more posts than 2021!

9 posts created (10%)

84 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@the-donut-alien

@pontide

@nocturnasnadderaneas

@superbatson

I tagged 86 of my posts in 2022

Only 8% of my posts had no tags

#proship - 20 posts

#selfship - 9 posts

#brudick - 8 posts

#bowuigi - 7 posts

#replies - 5 posts

#toothcup - 5 posts

#text - 4 posts

#ask me - 4 posts

#proshipping - 4 posts

#musings - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 115 characters

#i know the original convo is about 'jews celebrating halloween' but like... a lot of holidays have been secularized

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

there's like no content for one of my f/os so you know i'm gonna have to make some myself

1 note - Posted October 22, 2022

#4

WIP guessing game - "good girl"

"Good girl," he said tenderly. "My good, slutty little girl."

1 note - Posted October 1, 2022

#3

you know, one of the most annoying things in fandom is when people view a pairing as having familial vibes, like "oh these two act like brother and sister!", so when others say they ship it, the fandom will go, "ew, no, that's incest!", even though the characters are not blood-related

like, i understand if you're against incest, but to slap an incest label on characters who act like siblings or a parent & child is going a bit too far, in my opinion

10 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

#2

i'm pro-shipping any sort of incest, but i do have a system to determine what does and doesn't count as incest:

if they're related by blood, then it's incest.

if they share a biological parent, then it's incest.

if their parents are married but they're not blood-related, it isn't biologically incest, but the relationship could be viewed as borderline incestuous. (by law, they can still date/marry/etc, though, when they become adults.)

if one of them was adopted, then it also isn't biologically incest, but depending on when the adopted one joined the family (earlier or later in their childhood), then it could technically be viewed as incest. (i'm not sure about the legality bc of the shared last names. i'd have to research that.)

if they're foster siblings, then again, no biological incest, but depending on how long they've lived together, could be viewed as pseudo-incestuous. but they're still allowed to date/marry/etc once they age out of the system.

if they merely act like family, then it is definitely not incest and anyone claiming such is reaching and clearly just ship-bashing.

i had an experience in a fandom a few years back where people claimed shipping foster brothers was "incest" even though they only became foster brothers as teenagers. and other characters in the same media were implied to have met in the system and went on to date and marry each other, which no one in the fandom seemed to have an issue with, so the "incest" claimers really looked like hypocrites, in the end.

12 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

it's been, like, 2-3 days since the new black panther movie came out and i'm seeing more complaints about people shipping shuri & namor than actual shuri/namor content

can't people just... let others be? i understand if you disagree with it, but this is fandom! it's fiction! we're meant to explore interesting ship dynamics! like, there's a reason why "enemies to lovers" is such a popular trope and i'm sorry but yes that includes the more toxic/abusive pairings too. honestly, if you want "enemies to lovers" without any of the toxic or abusive stuff, you're really looking for "rivals to lovers" pairings. i'm sorry but it's true.

if you don't like a certain ship and don't wanna see it's content, mute the tag! block the people posting about it! you're in control of your own online experience!

but don't try to police other people's fandom experiences, please. shipping a toxic or abusive pairing is not actually harming anyone. (and being offended by something is NOT the same as being harmed by it.) get it through your heads.

108 notes - Posted November 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[grogusmum]

A Galaxy Far Far Away Part 9 : Tannenbaum

DIN DJARIN X EARTHING!F!READER

WORD COUNT: 4600ish

RATED: M

WARNINGS: while I do my best to keep my reader characters nondescript physically, there is some description here (stretch marks) I hope they are things you can relate to or imagine are a part of you within the context of the story. Also, Din picks you up. It's not meant to be thin coding at all, because he can. He picks up that Klatooinian with one hand in TBoBF. So its canon. Enjoy! While about Yule (winter solstice) Christmas and Christmas traditions mentioned. Grogu being adorable. Din being soft. Sexual situations, sexy times -kissing, taking off each others clothes kissing torsos, described though not explicitly fades to black.

A/N: @clydesducktape had suggested a Christmas in July writer's challenge- to finish up some December prompt wips etc. Well I really did want to do a chapter or 2 with Yule, plus some sweet readers had shared their hope for it to be included after reading the Halloween chapters as well. And the challenge afforded me a little push.

Anyway here I am July 31... long ago as a performer, I learned never to apologize for my work. But I feel like I need to here. I hope you enjoy this little slice of winter festivities. There maybe more in part 10, idk... This took me the entire month to write. It wasn't clicking for me. With some cheering on from @writeforfandoms I was finally able to finish. We will see...

On the plus side, the holiday spirit, whatever the holiday, seems helps move our pair's relationship along. (Who knows what will happen on Arbor Day!!)

Oh a little Ask Grogu easter egg can be found in the chapter.

Part 1

Part 8

The song O Tannenbaum is translated from the German to O Christmas Tree, though Tannenbaum simply means fir or pine tree. In actuality, it is one of the few carols that has gone mostly unchanged from its pagan origins.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

How faithfully you blossom!

Through summer’s heat and winter’s chill

Your leaves are green and blooming still.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

How faithfully you blossom!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

With what delight I see you!

When winter days are dark and drear

You bring us hope for all the year.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

With what delight I see you!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

You bear a joyful message:

That faith and hope shall ever bloom

To bring us light in winter’s gloom.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum,

You bear a joyful message

You woke early on December the first, with visions of sugarplums dancing in your head and the skating theme from Charlie Brown Christmas was on a loop. Determined to go all out, you would bake all of Nana’s Christmas cookies, decorate inside and out, make bird seed ornaments for the little pine tree outside, and go to a tree farm and cut your own tree. You didn't think you could get Din to sing, but you knew he would go caroling with you, if you suggested it. Just as you had so enjoyed sharing Halloween and Samhain with Din and Grogu, you were bursting to share another favorite holiday that had become very lonely to you in recent years.

Quietly you made your way up to the attic to bring down decorations, thinking maybe you would be able to get a start and surprise the little family you were becoming. You pulled three large boxes out of the corner of the open space, when you turned around there was Grogu looking at the boxes and you with interest. You jumped a mile high, he had been so quiet.

“Shhhi- Grogu! Hey, jellybean,” you picked him up, “and I thought I was being so sneaky. There is no surprising you, is there?”

You thought about that for a moment standing in the middle of your attic, the baby in your arms… was it part of the powers Din had so much trouble explaining to you?

“Well, anyway, good morning, little guy. I have to bring these boxes down, can you get down the steps on your own?”

“Can I help?”

Din made his way up Seamus, trailing behind. You laughed and shook your head.

“Yes, please. I was planning to - well it doesn’t matter. I need to bring these boxes down.” You put Grogu on the floor, and he toddled over to Seamus. Din picked up two of the large totes with ease, you picked up the last one and headed downstairs, Grogu and Seamus following.

"What is all this, anyway?"

"Well, did you notice how after our fall feast suddenly all the stores were covered in green and red and garland… um, silvery fluffy ropes?”

“Yes.”

“There is another big holiday, actually several of them coming up this month. Though one tends to dominate…” you begin your muttering, and Din and Grogu looked at each other with fondness.

“Far be it from me to be a Grinch but ‘Big Christmas’ shoves everything else out- when it steals pretty much eve-” you look at them and grimace. “Sorry, okay so there are a bunch of holidays all around this time.They have their own histories and stories… but what they have in common is bringing light during the darkest time of the year.”

“That sounds nice. So Halloween, well, Samhain was the last harvest and celebrated the dark,” Din said as he picked up Grogu who was chattering and touching Din's face. "Yes, buddy your right- and put on disguises to get candy."

“Yes. Well, sort of and Yule is the midpoint… the winter solstice.”

Din made a sound of acknowledgment and nodded.

“Do you celebrate the solstices too? That’s a dumb question… makes sense it would be universal in some form…"

“Yeah, different systems and planets do. Coruscant has a big celebration, they call Solstice Tide.”

Grogu cooed and gestured excitedly.

“Yeah kid, you would know Solstice Tide, wouldn't you? When you were at the Jedi Temple.”

Grogu nodded. You took his little hand in yours.

“A long time ago, Earthlings didn't know why it was getting darker, why it was going colder and the plants were dying, or why animals were harder to come by. They thought the world was dying. Even when they came to understand it would return they were scared, they didn't think there were any guarantees. After all, winter could kill you. You couldn't turn on a lamp or turn up the heat… go to the grocery if you ran out of food. They prayed to the gods the sun would return and with it longer and warmer days. So when it did, they celebrated and gave thanks. Even as they started to understand more about how the sun, moon, and planets worked they marked the days with revels. And we still do. Sure some have changed the name or the reason, but we still celebrate the promise of the sun's return. So Grogu, we get to celebrate Solstice Tide! I don’t know that it will be just like how you remember it, but I think you’ll like it!”

Soon Juniper Cottage was alive with activity. Faerie lights were strung on the bare lilac tree beside the old green front door that had a wreath of holly hung with a large red ribbon on it. The windows were bejeweled with folded kite paper stars, suns, and snowflakes, you, Din, and Grogu made one particularly snowy day. The snow came down so heavy and prolonged that you were able to get 4 varieties of cookie dough made.

“Not you too!” You moaned, two weeks into the month, as you spooned oatmeal into three bowls.

“I like Junebug,” Din said taking his bowl with a quiet thank you. Grogu smiled toothily as his bowl was set before him.

“I thought you had forgotten all about that.”

“You do know Dave calls you nothing else? The kid likes it too. Right, buddy?” Grogu laughed and waved his spoon.

“That proves nothing, he loves maple oatmeal. Don’t you sweetie?”

Din chuckled.

“I won't call you Junebug if you don't want me to, cyar’ika.”

You smile, shaking your head.

“It's okay,” you conceded before switching subjects, "but let's move on to more important things. It’s time to bring home the tree!”

Again, Din and Grogu looked at each other.

Just as you all climbed into your car to pick pumpkins right from the field, this time to get the tree. Din strapped Grogu in his car seat and you opened the other back seat door for Seamus. When Din straightened you tossed the keys. He caught them, with a look of surprise.

“You've been practicing with Dave’s jeep, and since you recite all the rules of the road as I drive, I'm thinking you got this.”

Din smiled his dimple showing and jogged around the car to the driver's side.

“Just stay under the speed limit, Din, we can not get pulled over.”

“Got it.”

Din adjusted the mirrors and smiled at you again. You leaned over and gave him a peck on the little bare spot in his scruff. Din looked at you shyly, his smile turning lopsided. He was still adjusting to life without his helmet, still getting used to this kind of casual affection. You gave it so easily, and he wanted to learn it from you. The ways you made him feel... if he could make you feel half as appreciated, as cherished as you made him feel... You looked at him as though he was responsible for the waxing and waning of the moon, but Din was sure it was you. Your love and care for Grogu, like he was your own, tugged at his heart.

Many nights now, you share a bed, but so far only to sleep. He wanted more, he was sure he could feel you did too. He wasn’t sure what was holding either of you up.

“Ready?”

Din was brought back to the task at hand, but before he put the car in reverse he took your hand and squeezed it.

“Yeah.”

It really could not have been a better afternoon, it was cold but not biting, there was snow, but none on the roads. Din parked, shut off the engine, and looked over at Grogu who clapped and babbled happily to Seamus, very proud of his dad’s driving. Din handed you the keys and you pushed them back with a small smile.

Everyone clambered out of the car, you got Seamus on leash, while Din placed Grogu in a front carrier on his chest. Din arranged his coat so it didn’t completely cover Grogu. He wore the wool hat you had knitted with ears with the hope people would just think it was a cute novelty hat, that way Grogu could be out in the open to a degree. Din would have preferred his little one to be facing out so he can see everything with ease, but this was safest. So Din murmured to Grogu and encouraged him to peek over his shoulder or beside them, he’d turn sideways to help Grogu see. Whether the strings of lights, the decorations on a snowy tree, or the jolly man in red with a large white beard, ho-ho-hoing and taking pictures with the other children. (You had read Grogu a poem about the gift-giving old man at bedtime just the other night.) All of it made Grogu's eyes widen in wonder.

Just like the day at the pumpkin field, it was bustling with folks from town. This time around they were familiar to Din too, though now they could see his face as well. He occasionally took a breath and reminded himself to relax his shoulders. He was getting used to being without his helmet, but he had yet to be in large groups. He had been with the Dades or some other neighbors he worked for, even at the grocery you tended to pick off hours so it was quiet. You assured him it was as much for you as it was for him. Saying you hated going when it was busy. He appreciated it nonetheless. He knew he would never be like the unreadable black t visor, but he has discovered he doesn't have what you call much of a poker face at all, only now learning to marshall his expressions.

People were waving at one another happily, just as before, enjoying the company and festive atmosphere.

“You alright?” you asked hooking your arm in his. Din held on, squeezing your hand.

“Yeah, just practicing my um poker face.”

You laughed, and he smiled down at you. He will always love hearing you laugh and it made him swell when he is the one to make you do so.

You pulled him down a path between the fir trees, and when you were out of the hustle-bustle you pulled Din to you and kissed him. When Grogu squawked, you laughed again and kissed his head.

“Sorry, Jellybean.” You began unclipping the carrier so Grogu could walk around and see the trees.

“So what do we do?” Dins asked looking around.

“We pick a tree, cut it down bring it to the guy and pay for it. Easy Peasy”

“Easy peasy,” Din repeated looking around. “Well, there are so many, how do you pick”

“Well, there are different types, Fraser, Douglas, Spruce, Balsam, White Pine…and heights… and then there is the magic factor. You just know its right”

The snow crunched under your boots as you walked down the row, you told him you usually got a pretty tall tree, the ceilings were high at the cottage, and you liked to cut the extra lower branches for decorating the mantel and other things. You explained you weren’t a spruce girl, you preferred Fraser Fir and Balsams. Balsam smelled the best, but their needles fell fast. As you explained this you touched the trees as you passed them, just your hand out brushing them, sometimes giving the tip of the branch a squeeze as though you were closing it around an outstretched hand.

“So, how do you decide?”

“The Balsam/Fraser conundrum? Generally, I hem and haw about it, pick a different one each year, love it but wonder if I should have gotten the other, just a little. Then feel a little guilty. It’s not a perfect system. Since we have a little one, maybe we don’t want to have to sweep up needles constantly… so we’ll go with a Fraser this year.”

Din smiled and shook his head a little. You have really gotten inside, and there was nothing he could do about it. And truth be told, he didn’t want to do a single thing about it. You were adorable, and he knew it. He adored you.

You said, we have a little one.

You hoped all this wasn't too overwhelming for Din, all the people, your meandering way about, well, almost everything. You worked to not chase every rabbit down its hole. You knew he didn’t mind, but he was so… economical in his communication, that you felt flightier than ever sometimes. Of course, these days whenever you apologized he kiss your nose and told you it was fine.

Grogu made little tracks in the snow leading the way, Seamus dutifully by his side, to a tall Fraser, it was quite straight and full. He ducked under it, and Seamus sat looking at you. You could hear the little one babbling, little happy patos, and mrapps. You smiled.

“It’s perfect, Grogu.” you exclaimed walking around it, then added in mock suspicion, “have you done this before?”

You ducked your head under to look at him solemnly, “would you ask the tree if it is okay for us to bring it home? It’s alright if we have to continue looking”

Grogu smiled and looked seriously at the tree, placing his small hands on the trunk, he closed his eyes, and his ears lowered in concentration. Then his ears popped to attention and he nodded and cooed in the affirmative. You smiled back.

“Excellent! Please tell the tree to send its spirit down into the earth so we may cut it.” You then took one of the branches in your hand like before, “Thank you for becoming part of our midwinter celebrations.” You pulled some fertilizer sticks from your coat pocket and handed one to Din and one to Grogu and showed them how you tucked into the cold ground the best you could. Your boys followed suit. With that, you held up the bowsaw to Din, “Would you like the honors?”

Din knelt, scooped Grogu who had started climbing the lower branches, handed him to you, then started to draw the saw back and forth.

“Well, we’ll have to watch out for that!” You laughed.

You and Din dragged the tree to the farmer's son, he took your money and pocketed it, and offered to take it to the car so you may enjoy some cocoa in the warming house. You told him which car was yours and he started the short trek to the parking lot, while you, Din, Grogu, who was back in his carrier, and Seamus went to the warming house, it smelled of cookies and cocoa and evergreen. String lights hung from the rough-hewn beams over your head. Just as you made your way to the woodstove someone called your name cheerily-

“You’re under the mistletoe!”

You looked up and yes, you indeed were under a large lovely sprig. Din looked up nonplussed.

“Kiss her!” said the same someone, who turned out to be Jakob, Pansy’s husband. Din looked at you with a small smile. You smiled back, murmuring a short explanation of the tradition, and then gave yourself an internal pat on the back for its brevity- which had become a little tradition of your own.

“Well, if I must,” Din winked and mindful of Grogu joined you under the mistletoe, holding you close. He tipped your chin gently up and brought his pillowed lips to yours. It was warm and wanting but chaste in front of an audience, and when the cheers filled the space you both smiled mid-kiss.

Both your faces warmed at the reception, Din’s ears reddening with a dusting of color in his cheeks that had nothing to do with the cold. He looked down into your eyes, which he noted were twinkling.

After hot chocolate, a spice cookie (two for Grogu, for he had levitated one while no one was looking), a biscuit for Seamus, and some cheerful conversation, you bid farewell to everyone and made your way back to the car. It had started to snow gently as you piled into the car.

You listened to carols and holiday music in the car and before you knew it you were untying the tree and bringing it into the house.

After the lights and decorating the tree, you sat, the lot of you, Seamus leaning on Din, Grogu leaning on Tabitha, and Willow in your lap. All on the floor, just looking at the tree. With the living room lights off, the space illuminated only by the twinkling lights on the tree and the flickering glow from the fireplace. The only sound was the crackling fire and the cats purring. Your heart swelled at the thoughts of Grogu’s awe at the shiny balls. His big eyes turned to saucers. (Din made some very clear rules about the glass baubles)

The moment was broken when Grogu suddenly decided it was time to climb the tree again. You and Din exchanged lighthearted grimaces at his speed.

“Oh boy,” you said as you scooped him in your arms. “Okay, bub, another rule about the tree, no climbing.” You turned to the cats, “I am talking to you two too.” You pointed at them sternly, Willow just yawned and Tabitha blinked at you then walked away. Grogu laughed and held onto your shirt, he appreciated the rule including all parties.

“Here let me show you something. Din, you too.” you sat with your back to the tree, and Din raised an eyebrow. You laid back on the wood floor and pushed yourself with your feet like a mechanic going under a car, so your head is under the tree. Taking Grogu off your chest you placed him down on his back next to you. Again his eyes grew and he cooed in awe.

Din smiled and ducked under to lay beside you, as he looked up into the tree at this new angle, you wordlessly took his hand as you looked up at the faerie lights, the tiny animals of wood and felt, the shiny baubles and feathery limbs hanging above.

Quietly you began to hum, murmuring the words to O Tannenbaum.

Grogu was asleep before the last stanza. Din gave your hand loving squeeze and picked up his snoozing son to bring him to his room. You were still under the tree when he returned. He took a moment to just look at you before he clambered back under it.

Din was very aware of his immediate attraction to you, found himself very quickly wanting to protect you. You were so bright, beautiful, caring, selfless, and stronger than you knew. The times he got to hold you, he never wanted to let go. They say revelation is not a burning bush, big and flashy. But comes to you in a chink of sunlight, seen from the corner of your eye or within the space between heartbeats.

It happened that moment in bed, Din holding you while you held Grogu. He even had admitted it to Dave. And again, here with you on the floor, looking up into the tree.

The revelation… became words, between heartbeats, I love you. Beat. I love you. Beat. I love you.

“Hi.”

“Hey there, it’s been a long day. You’re not ready to turn in?”

Din brought his arm under your head, you rested it there a moment. The two of you just looked at each other in the warm glow, shadows of branches crisscrossing your faces.

“Nope.” He tightened his arm around your shoulder, pulling you close. His mouth found yours. It began as sort of giggly kisses, just playing a little. You rolled onto your side and raked your fingers in Din's curls, they were getting long, having not cut his hair since Navarro. Then you closed your fingers in them giving a little pull, lighting him up like the tree above your heads, he gave something between a hum and growl and nixed any and all plans to cut his hair anytime soon.

Suddenly Din pulled you out from under the tree and took the upper hand. You cried out laughing as he caged you under him. He looked at you for a moment, the tiny lights still reflected in your eyes.

Din's head came down again and captured your lips in a deeper kiss. His leg across yours. The warmth rolling through your pelvis made you wanted to open them, invite him to slot himself between them… as if he could read your mind, his foot nudged them, separating your calves. The muscles in your legs twitched as pleasure centers lit up. You opened for him and Din wasted no time positioning himself fully over you, nestled between your thighs his hands on either side of your head. He gently turned your face and brought his lips to the place he knew pulled the sweetest little sounds from you, below your ear. He decided to give an experimental suckle and was rewarded with a little gasp, your hips gave an involuntary buck. When you opened your eyes again, his brown eyes were on you soft, his brows perched with a question. A hand came up and traced your jawline. You put your hand gently over his and pressed your cheek into his hand.

“What is it, Din?”

“I- well, I hoped- I wondered if I might join you in your room. If you want-”

“Din," you smiled. "I most definitely want.”

“You do?”

“I do, I have wanted-”

“Me too.”

“Tell me,” you whispered.

“I want,” Din’s voice dropped lower.

You shivered at the words, at his voice. Din stood, pulling you with him.

Then without warning Din picked you up, arm under your knees.

You gave the smallest of yips in surprise, and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Din, you- I- please don't hurt yourself!”

“I've lifted klatooinians, I can most certainly carry my cyar’ika.”

In a voice meant only for responding to the most romantic of statements, "I don't know what a 'klatoonin' is, but um thank you for not calling me Junebug just now.”

Din laughed and came in for a kiss, as he carried you down the hall to your room.

You knelt on the bed in front of him, the height of it gives you a few more inches, you looked at Din from this new vantage point. His patchy scruff, the dimple that was teasing, his curling hair. Putting your hands under the hem of his oatmeal Henley, you ran your palms up his body bringing the shirt up with them. When it came over his head it mussed that rich brown hair. You smiled. You looked at his shoulders and chest in the low light, while the beskar had protected him well, you could see many scars, perhaps from places it doesn't cover, where he only had the heavyweight canvas flight suit for protection. You leaned in and gently kissed one that sat outside what would be the safety of his pauldron, and then another, you lips meeting his warming body, you looked up at him, Din hooded eyes shined a little as he looked down at you his Adam's apple bobbed with a swallow.

“Is this okay,” you asked.

He nodded

You mapped his wounds, stopping at each to give it singular attention. When you got to his hip bone he gave a small strangled moan and pulled you up to him.

"I'm going to kiss them all,” you told him, cupping his cheek.

“I know you will.”

He looked into your eyes then down at the flannel pajama shirt you were wearing, unicorns with winter scarves and hats this time, and his hands came up to the first button, sliding it back through the hole and down to the next, and the next, this was when he stopped and looked into your face searching for silent permission. You smiled again, a silent yes. And he opened your top like he is carefully opening a gift from under the tree, that he knew was fragile. You shivered, and unbuttoned the last two buttons as he looked at your bare shoulders and chest. He pressed his plush lips into the juncture of your shoulder and neck, then trailed downward, you arch into his kisses. It's been so long, his lips leave tingling heat wherever they touched. Your pajama bottoms were slung low, showing your belly, long silver lines stretching over it left over from carrying Fiona. As he got closer you were momentarily self conscious, Din looked at them reverently tracing them gently and laid you back on the pillows so he may have access. His kisses, feather light on them. When he’d kissed each one his mouth traveled back up your torso, to the valley between your breasts. Your breath continued to quicken. When he took one into his warm mouth, your breath caught.

“Is this alright?” Din checked in as his heart hammered.

Din's experience has generally been focused on the endgame of release, there was little intimacy, and kissing was still brand new territory. When he had told you this, you laughed lovingly, telling him he was a quick study.

“Yes, it’s more than alright.”

It was still dark, feet tangled together, this time in rag wool socks. Sexy or no, it was winter in the foothills of a small northern town. The dim clock read 3 a.m.

“Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“That was-”

“Yeah.”

“Din?”

“Yeah.”

“I am really glad we are anatomically compatible.”

You thought for a moment you stepped into too weird an area because Din was silent, then the bed started to shake from his silent laughter, and it didn't subside before-

“Me too, Mesh'la,” he sighed. “Me too.”

“I'm sure we would have made it work, but, this was…” you turned and as there is no moon out you couldn't see, so your kiss lands on the corner of his mouth.

“How do you say I love you in mando'a?” You stilled, shocked at your own boldness.

But the tightening of Din's arms told you you're fine, more than fine. You felt his smile on your cheek.

"Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, it translates to 'I will know you forever'."

"nee kar-" you test it on your tongue, "tile garh- "

"-darasuum." Din said again.

"dahrah-soom?"

"Dah RAH soom."

"nee kar-TILE garh dah-RAH-soom," you said

"Yes. Yes, cyar." Din kissed your forehead, then placed his forehead there.

“I will know you forever. I love you.” After a beat, “Junebug.”

You could feel him smirk. And you laughed against your will.

“Do you really not like Junebug?”

“No, I do… I've just always associate it with being little I guess…” grown-ups only ever called me that. Bev and Dave still do, they are allowed.

Din chuckled, “so am I allowed? Sometimes?”

“Yyyyeah.” You said in mock annoyance.

"What is a Junebug anyway?"

THANK YOU FOR READING 💚

You can find my masterlist here and my taglist form if you care to be tagged for fics like this.

[vaporvipermedia]

Just started following cause I'm loving Kei the more and more I see her on my dash (from other folks' reblogs). For the WIP ask prompt: Could I be nosy to see what those 'Halloween Outfits' are/how they're coming along? OvO

Oh, I would be happy to!

Also I appreciate the Kei love, she’s honestly so fun to draw and my favorite oc I made for any fandom ever.

When it comes to this design, I wanted Kei to look like a disgraced victorian detective who failed in multiple cases and now roams the world of the living to actively seek out all the criminals he wasn't able to catch. 

Was that description over the top? Yes.

I got a little too extra there💀

BUT YEAH!

I’m also going to be working on my other characters as well when the Halloween event eventually arises from the depths of the EN server.

To list out a few:

Raizel Petal - Heartslabyul Halloween Outfit

Orval Blackwell - Octavinelle Halloween Outfit

And for fandorm related Oc’s

Sullivan Laguna and Kai Ramsey will be in the Piraticus Halloween Outfit

And I might just draw Ermis as well because, not only would he probably love to cause chaos in this entire event to make things hard for Kei. But also because, I HAVEN’T DRAWN HIM IN SO LONG!!!!!! I NEED TO DRAW HIM MORE OFTEN ALONG WITH PHOTIOS AND MALACHI! NOT TO MENTION THEY ALSO NEED REDESIGNS!!!😭😭😭

Ok little rant over thank you so much for the ask💀

[Kei goes by She/He pronouns]