#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Consider: After a long time away from each other, Din embracing Luke from behind and kissing the tip of one of his scars

I was going to ramble a little bit, then decided this is a great art prompt... and then realized just how fucking useless my art brain is after napping for 3+ hours after a full workday after 2+ months of not drawing for shits & giggles.

STILL DID IT BECAUSE I NEEDED THE EXERCISE.

Anyway, Anon, I have thought about these immaculate vibes on and off for years... but specifically for fic reasons, not the general "for the vibes" reasons.

I make no promises about randomly turning asks into art prompts.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #shirozora draws #dinluke #anyway that was another 3 hours of me trying to remember how to draw #in conclusion i'm so fucked #don't be like me and only hyperfocus on one skill set at a time. PRACTICE YOUR GODDAMN ART

[shirozora-draws]

My real question is does Dinluke have us acting wise at any time of the day?

I am in fact forever delighted at how people will stumble across dinluke, get curious, and then it's been days of binging fics and consuming everything dinluke ever. What an incredible "5 seconds of interaction" ship.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

*enables you* what happened with TLJ 👃

After all these years I still can't properly find words to explain how deeply betrayed I felt after the credits rolled and I shuffled out of the movie theater with everybody else. There was a TON of hype surrounding this movie, an absolute fuckton. I only saw positive reviews about it, the cast, the director, the plot. I got excited to see where Rian Johnson & Co. would take the ST.

The only remotely negative comment I saw before watching the movie was a fandom blog saying they didn't like what happened to Poe. Since this blog was about racism in fandom, I knew something was off. That was my only warning.

And y'know, it was like, five minutes in? Ten minutes? And Poe makes a "Yo mama" joke at Hux? I used to go into movies with an open mind and spent days gathering my thoughts about them because I was always slow to react, slow to gather my thoughts into coherent strings of words. It's how I enjoyed Michael Bay productions and JJ Abrams' love affair with lens flare. I never got actively angry with a movie I was watching, and I was fucking angry by the time the movie ended. I still remember texting a friend while standing out in front of the theater because I was so confused. The response to TLJ was so positive so why did I come out of the movie so frustrated and confused and dissatisfied with the whole thing?

It's been years and we all know how this movie divided the Star Wars fandom and just... broke Fandom Spaces in a way I never expected. We all know what TLJ did and didn't do, and how TROS provided the final nail in the coffin that was the ST experiment. But back then, all I saw was positive commentary about the themes and messages of TLJ, how it portrayed failure and the dangers of putting someone like Luke Skywalker on a pedestal, how the Force was female, how... important it was to see Poe get characterized as a hotheaded hotshot who needed to be demoted, slapped around, and stunned in order to learn some kind of lesson, how important it was to see Finn lose everything he gained in TFA so that he could relearn how not to be selfish or something while starring in a fucking incredibly tone-deaf B plot, how Rey... I'm not sure exactly what because she didn't need training anyway and then spent most of her time trying to bring Ben Swolo back to the light????? Rose was so promising as someone who grew up under the FO's thumb but she and Kelly were fucking abandoned by Disney so I don't know if Rose existing was actually a good idea if it meant giving Kelly unending trauma. Mark slipped up by calling Luke "Jake" and expressing his displeasure in front of cameras, and I was so fucking baffled and alienated by his character after knowing how his story ended in ROTJ that I couldn't connect with whatever lessons I and he are supposed to be learning. JJ set up Snoke like a mystery box and Rian just yeeted him off without so much as a fucking explanation so what was the point of that? Hux was a fucking joke. Phasma was barely there. The only character that Rian cared about was fucking Kylo Ren and Adam says years later that he was never supposed to get a redemption arc anyway.

Like, this was the movie everyone hyped up? This was the movie that didn't answer any questions left unasked by TFA and didn't bother to move forward with character development for any of the known characters? I spent money watching a slow space chase that ended on a planet made of salt and killed off Luke for Reasons? Am I stupid? Am I dumb? Am I a peasant incapable of understanding the masterpiece Rian directed, this so-called Best Star Wars Movie Since ESB?

But I couldn't say anything. I couldn't be dogpiled for hating such a empowering movie for women, a diverse and inclusive movie that had the likes of John and Kelly and Oscar. I couldn't be lumped in with the Star Wars dudebros with their raging misogynistic and racist takes on the movie, the cast, Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm, Disney, etc. I couldn't be seen as one of them just because I didn't like a movie that I should like, I'm supposed to like. So I sat in silence, read meta, witnessed the fucking catastrophic explosion around some wild ass AO3 fandom essays written by a racist OG member of OTW about Finn/Poe, saw hate piled on black and bipoc fans, saw r*ylo fans come for John and John clap back at them, just saw an absolute fuckton of hate, and so by the time TROS came around I just... checked out. There was no way JJ could salvage what Rian had done and I was right. TROS was a corporate-run soulless garbage end to the Sequel Trilogy, but it ended just as The Mandalorian finished its first season and regained a lot of good will with this small story about a lonely Mandalorian bounty hunter who encountered a Force-sensitive Baby Yoda.

And then TBOBF/Season 3 of the Mando Show happened, just like how TLJ happened. All the promise, all the unanswered questions of the previous movie/season, all fucking dropped or provided with the worst, most unsatisfying answer. I'm sure others have found better answers and can live with what Star Wars gave us, but I haven't been able to. TLJ came out years and years ago, and I am still so bitter today. I'm still so bitter because TFA had such an incredibly compelling setup with such promising characters, and then TLJ Did That.

I got so heated while writing this. I'm still so mad. I'm still so bitter. I bury my head so deep in the sandbox I built for myself so that I don't have to think how Disney is twisting and contorting all these Mando'verse shows so that they all eventually lead to the ST, their precious hot potato child that just... didn't have to end the way they did if they actually had a fucking plan and fucking stuck the landing. I'll give the MCU this - their Phase 1? They fucking stuck the landing. I fell off the train tracks and haven't really watched the MCU since Captain Marvel, but at least they had a fucking plan and didn't fucking derail themselves like Disney did with the Sequel Trilogy.

I could be nice to people who like this movie but I'm not going to be. They can be nice on their own blogs.

Man, I can't even watch Knives Out or Glass Onion because my blood starts boiling. Just. TLJ did a lot to ruin what I hoped would be a positive and creative connection with Star Wars, and it took the Mando Show and the 2 minutes where Din and Luke locked eyes on the Imperial light cruiser to bring me back.

I'm gonna stop before I get way too heated for sleep.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #anti TLJ #this is 100% a TLJ hate post and blog #i spent so many years holding in my thoughts about this cursed movie #when I say spite fuels me this is what I mean #this is how I find comfort in 'love star wars. wish it was good' #anyway this was the movie that made me feel crazy for years because how could i hate this movie if everyone said it's good #how can a movie be good if all i got from it was confusion and betrayal #time to go art something and calm down before bed

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

underrated dinluke fics/authors? we always hear about the same ones but you're chill so do you have anyone new?

Hello there! I'll admit, I haven't read much new dinluke since I started writing for the fandom... 3 years ago oh god jfc. We also now have years' worth of dinluke fics to trawl through on AO3, so I had to dig/ask around for recs. I'm also bringing back my go-to rec list that features mainly older authors and includes fics/writers I would've already recced. I know other rec lists crossed my dash dedicated to exactly the underrated fics/authors you speak of BUT I'M BOO BOO THE FOOL AND DIDN'T REBLOG/TAG THOSE REC LISTS APPARENTLY.

My Go-To Din/Luke Rec List: Your Friendly Neighborhood DinLuke Fic Rec Masterpost

A recommended author: objectlesson (filtered for Din/Luke fics)

wreck my plans, that's my man by casuallysavingtheworld

What the Water Gave Us by kappa77

If anyone knows the rec lists I speak of, please reblog with links to those lists! If anyone has additional fics and authors they believe are underrated and deserve more love, please add them!

Thanks for stopping by, Anon!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #lukedin #skydalorian #din djarin #luke skywalker #the mandalorian #star wars #fanfic rec #author rec

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Was browsing through early BOBF/Mando S3 criticisms on Tumblr and WOW, 93% of S2’s viewership dropped when S3 finished airing for an extremely understandable reason. As someone who got into Dinluke after all the dust settled I can only imagine what it was like becoming invested in Din’s story and being floored by the S2 finale only for it to get totally swerve-balled after a long-anticipated wait. How did you avoid the disappointment and burnout?

Spite is an incredibly powerful motivator, let me tell you.

I'm halfway joking about that, btw. I could say I'm used to disappointment and I also worked really hard not to take things too personally after being disappointed time and again year after year by fandoms I was in. Imo the healthiest attitude is that no show/movie/book/videogames/etc will ever play out the way you want/think it should so take what you can get and trash the rest. By the time I started watching The Mandalorian, I'd been burnt badly by Star Trek AOS, the Sequel Trilogy, the MCU, and the Disney machine, and I had to figure out how to accept that I like what I like, I can't change what I can't change, and I can/will run the fuck off with what I can change, which is making wildly fun and fulfilling transformative shit like fanfics and fanart.

I was actually excited about TBOBF and was utterly betrayed by the executive decision to throw him and Fennec to the side in order to absolutely trash the Season 2 finale of the Mando Show by having Din and Grogu reunite just like that. I guess I got lucky in that I had a long-running fic series that I was heavily invested in and I was not about to let Disney stop me from finishing it. Instead of letting my frustrations kill my interest in the show and fandom, I turned it into motivation to keep telling the story I wanted to tell based on the fallout of Season 2. It also helped that Andor happened.

I quit Season 3 of the Mando Show after the 1st episode and it was the best decision I ever made. I had a really rough time with it and was encouraged to step away if it was giving me too much stress. I'm glad for that. Less time and energy picking about Filoni&Favreau and Disney Lucasfilm's decisions and disappointments, more time and energy spent writing and drawing the dinluke I want to see. The nice thing about Star Wars is that it is an old and vast sandbox. Plenty of room here to build whatever sandcastles and dig however many holes you want while canon goes floundering by.

I think also that it really helped to find spaces to share with people who vibe on the same wavelength, so I'm not alone to my thoughts and spiraling myself out of a fandom I enjoyed (like what happened with TLJ but I shan't go there bc this response is long enough). Those posts about having friends you can shit-talk things with? Valid af. You need outlets to vent your grievances without setting bridges on fire, and it'll help your enjoyment of things in the long run.

I didn't avoid the disappointment but I figured out how to make something of it, so I'm still writing dinluke, I'm still drawing dinluke, I'm still getting giddy over dinluke. I actively choose to do what I want with them, and nothing Disney Lucasfilm puts out is ever going to stop me.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #the mandalorian #star wars #tbobf #fandom things #realized I still have a lot of thoughts about TBOBF and Mando S3 while answering the ask #i should post them at some point #but really I can be a really spiteful person who uses rage to fuel certain ideas #if i see a story I don't like for a thing that I like I will rewrite things and I will create things to get over that rage #it's like that quote in frankenstein #it's like. i like this thing so much and i expect better from it so if it won't reach there then i'll write/draw it myself #the burnout will get to me eventually if the hyperfixation doesn't get to me first #but for now i am really enjoying the ride and i remain heavily invested in the story i'm telling with Dangerous Dreams #sometimes you just gotta find the one thing in the fandom you really like and stick with it to the end of the line

[shirozora-draws]

Shirozora this you

👇

*squints*

Where did you find that photo of me?

(Real question is, did you find me on Twitter? Because that's where I go to whine and moan about writing lol)

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #writing is hard #arting is hard #writing and arting is hard #but they are oh so worth the struggles #also samples for the acrylic charms and holo stickers have been approved so expect an update on those in a few weeks!

[shirozora-draws]

Hi Shiro! I hope you’re doing well! I know you’re writing Dangerous Dreams through a graysexual lens, but I also wanted to say how satisfying and validating it is seeing your DinLuke progress as someone on the greyromantic spectrum. The way you portray their slow-burn relationship genuinely holds a special place in my lone braincell.

Hello there! Ngl, the timing of your ask is rather incredible as I'd been complaining to people about being "too ace for this shit" while working through the drafts of the next few chapters for this year's NaNo. I'm really grateful for this sort of feedback; it lets me know I'm on the right track and that my fics are poking the right set of buttons in that one specific order for people looking for that kind of fic.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you around :)

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #series: dangerous dreams #i swear if shipfics didn't tickle my brain in that specific satisfying way i could do so much damage with genfics #i just love writing about all the things and the shipping plays one part of it. one very satisfying part. #(had to delete several tags about food history and using that for world and character building because uh. i shouldn't) #anyway i'm just really glad about the ways this fic series resonates with readers #and that it somehow manages to live up to the tags I tacked onto it #instead of me just imagining it is when it isn't #i'll shut up now and get back to writing

[shirozora-draws]

I don't think I'd realized you were like me and ace. I'm fully asexual but like to read about romance so grey maybe? I wouldn't have really figured that from the way you write your DinLuke. It's plenty romantic for me. Cheers

Hello there! And that's a fair take on things! There's no one way to be or to express wherever and however you feel you fall on the spectrum. There's always what I think and hope I'm writing, and there's always what people take from it. If the tags and fic fall in line with your tastes, that's great. If they don't quite land, that's also fine. I'm just grateful to be given a chance.

Thanks for stopping by, and hope to see you around!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #series: dangerous dreams #the end goal is always to tell a good story with a good plot and character development #but it's always so much more interesting when you let parts of yourself bleed into your works #and it's always so interesting to see what people take from it

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

I've given up even trying to ask why Luke, Leia and the others aren't appearing in these galactic events, especially in a time period it makes most sense for them to be involved in. I dislike gratuitous cameos as much as the next person, but some fans don't seem to understand how glaring it is that these characters are absent.

But let's be honest, we know why Luke isn't there. Filoni of all people knows why and he doesn't care. It's what he wanted after all. If it means he can continue stealing from Legends stories like the hack he is, remove original trilogy characters and reduce their relevance for the sake of centering Ahsoka then who's going to stop him?

Not watching this show anyways or giving that transphobic lead actress more attention.

I've been mulling over this for days, even before your ask dropped in. I mean, who really knows how information is disseminated throughout the gffa but I 1) have a hard time believing that the Big Name Heroes of the Rebellion that we followed through the OT wouldn't even be mentioned wherever the New Republic is involved, and 2) have an incredibly IMPOSSIBLE time believing that Luke would not be on any Force user's radar. He is the unstoppable force and immovable object. If you're going to give us a story about ex-Jedi, Nightsisters, magic, and the Force, he is the one Force user you can't fucking ignore. I can understand Ahsoka choosing to actively ignore him for whatever reason when he could be such a powerful ally but I can't understand Skoll and Hati not even acknowledging that he exists on their Force radar. His absence, Leia's absence, Han's absence, Lando's absence, are gonna be so goddamn fucking loud when you're gonna get this fucking close to the New Republic and the likes of Thrawn and the bigger name Imperial remnants, you Felonious Clown.

I'm just here to take some notes on how this guy is making this Star Wars story such a Star Wars story while ignoring the contributions from the Star Wars story that started it all.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #ahsoka critical #ahsoka show spoilers #I'M SORRY I JUST CAN'T IGNORE THE GIANT FUCKING LUKE SKYWALKER-SHAPED HOLE IN THIS SO-CALLED SHOW ABOUT MAGIC AND MYSTICISM AND SHIT #YOU CAN'T FUCKING TELL ME HE HID OUT IN OSSUS'S BAMBOO FORESTS BUILDING A SCHOOL WHILE AHSOKA'S OUT THERE ACTIVELY TRYING TO STOP A WAR #ARE YOU KIDDING ME #ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME. #FUCK YOU DON'T EVEN NEED HIM TO SHOW HIS FACE IF YOU DON'T WANNA FELONY #AHSOKA'S TRAUMA ISSUES WOULD BE ENOUGH FOR HER TO STUBBORNLY REFUSE TO ASK HIM FOR HELP #YOU JUST NEED HUYANG TO ATTEMPT TO SUGGEST IT AND FOR HER TO SHUT THAT SUGGESTION DOWN #DOES HUYANG EVEN KNOW LUKE EXISTS???? I DON'T KNOW #I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WHO HUYANG WAS UNTIL I DUG INTO THIS SHIT WHILE RESEARCHING FOR A FIC #GODDAMN THIS IS SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS WHAT THE LIVING HELL

[shirozora-draws]

I'm so excited for The Suns to be finished!! The Storm is one of my all time favorite fanfictions and I absolutely cannot wait to see what you do!

Hello there! Thank you for your kind words and for reading mine. Hope you're ready for the long haul, because this one is very much going to be a long story to wrap up this particular tale.

Thanks again!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #seriously tho #to everyone who has ever read anything i wrote - thank you!

[shirozora-draws]

Shirozora.

We👏(fans)👏need👏a👏update👏

You're in luck! Just finished drafting the 5th chapter of the 3quelfic. It now needs the aggressive editing treatment and then I'll reacquaint myself with the drawing side of things.

As for the pop-up shop project... waiting on some acrylic samples to get here first. In the meantime, feel free to hit up my main blog @trashquisitor-shirozora where the reblog train is occasionally interrupted by my grousing about how hard writing is and how much I suffer for art.

Thanks for stopping by!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #5th chapter is sitting pretty at 11k or so words #but it sure didn't feel pretty writing it #but illustrating it? i am soooooooo ready for that

[shirozora-draws]

I just wanted to say that I absolutely adore your art and the fics you write on ao3! After all these years it feels so good to see updates and new drawings and I'm just really happy that you're still here, sharing all of your stories and art with us, so thank you!

I'm currently rereading the Dangerous Dreams series and I love how immersive it is with all the beautiful fanarts. Thank you for continuing this adventure and I hope you're doing well ❤️

And thank you for stopping by! I haven't been sharing as much as I'd like (because Adulting is hard and RL sucks) but I still have arts and stories I want to share'd like to share with y'all and I'll keep sharing for as long as the dinluke well is full to overflowing.

If all goes well and I don't get derailed, Dangerous Dreams should get an update sometime in May. Just keep an eye out for the inevitable despair posting over the writing/arting process ;)

Thanks again!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #i would like time and space to be creative again #instead of being so fucking tired from Adulting that i only have energy for low level hobbies #but i'll get this next chapter posted in May whatever it takes

[shirozora-draws]

you should update at whatever pace you like, i've never found it polite for readers to demand updates. i do look forward to your fics though!

Hello there! Don't worry, I was fine with the ask and thought it unexpectedly funny. Plus, if I'm being real, no amount of poking and prodding will make me move faster than I need to (or am capable of moving). No harm, no foul :)

Still, I appreciate you reaching out and I'm happy to have you as a reader. Thanks for stopping by!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #having a lot on my plate (self-imposed or IRL) has definitely slowed me some but I'm still trucking along #man i hope I hadn't forgotten how to draw wouldn't that suck lol

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

So I have been super busy the last few months, so I have been saving the lastest two chapters of The Stars for a moment when I could sit down properly and enjoy them...and today was that day.

And I was damn near in tears. The way you describe Din, and healing, and how that is not a linear progression, and Luke just caring so much...It is all just so incredible, I love it so much.

Thank you for continuing to feed us with such quality dinluke!!!

Hello there! Oh man, you sure did choose some chapters to read in one sitting today (or yesterday, idk, time zones are weird and so is time). They were pretty intense to write, and I always hope anyone who read them came away with even just a fraction of that intensity.

Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to drop off your thoughts in this ask. I really appreciate it!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #story: the stars #series: dangerous dreams #the 3quelfic #dinluke

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

Okay so this isn’t for the ask game but I went back to The Suns to find a passage and this one stuck out to me:

“‘Bed’s smaller than I thought.”

“I told you so,” Din says, not that he’ll do anything about it now. He’s certain he’s going to wake up with a sore back and cramped arms tomorrow, but there is no way he’s getting up. This is comfortable, somehow.

“Hope this is okay,” Luke says, murmuring, drowsy and fading fast.

Din closes his eyes, listening to Grogu’s soft snores and Luke’s slow, even breathing. He listens to the low hum of the astromech and the aching, loud heartbeats in his chest. He wonders when he’ll have another moment like this, if it will be months, years even, if ever.

“Yes,” he says softly, though nobody hears it.”

So. That second-to-last bit. “He wonders when he’ll have another moment like this,” SHIRO WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS LIKE “Oh you’ll have more moments like this Din, just you wait” I—*Screams*

That's what the 3quelfic is all about! The dots are being connected, whether I knew it was happening when I wrote the first 2.5 fics or not.

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #dinluke #series: dangerous dreams #story: the suns

[trashquisitor-shirozora]

For the ask game: 34 and 49? Love your writing <3

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

I'd say my entire 11th grade year (US edumacation here) forever altered my approach to writing. I've joked that I was taught CRT in high school before the alt-right christofascist MAGA crowd started screaming about banning it from all the schools even though CRT is college-level stuff but I'm super dead serious that it really opened my eyes to my existence as a child of immigrants in an increasingly volatile nation. It's made me seek out characters who are alienated, who are both a part of and separate from the society and spaces they navigate in due to Reasons and Circumstances. I started broaching the topic in my forever unfinished DA Inquisition fic but with my Dangerous Dreams series, I decided to write Din as Not Great in mando'a the way that I'm Not Great in Korean.

The other big thing is that the 11th grade introduced me to bell hooks and I still have a marked up copy of all about love. I keep a quote from it on my AO3 bio as a reminder to myself about writing love as transformative, a verb rather than an object.

Well, that sure was a serious answer!

49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!

I'm currently not writing because I'm done writing for this particular stretch of time and am getting ready to deploy the next chapter of The Stars this Thursday. But I can share this!

The joys of working with a massive canvas because this snippet is just a small piece of a large image.

Play ask games, win ask prizes!

#shirozora awkwardly responds to asks #play ask games win ask prizes #fic ask meme #been feeling some kind of way about my high school actually #can't really say without airing my real time location but let's just say some creepy shit came to light years after I graduated #the 11th grade was a transformative year but the entire high school program i was in is just insane