Pt.1 | Pt.2 | Pt.3
Posting part four of this for a slightly late Star Wars day post. (It's technically still May 4th for me).
I had a lot of fun designing/drawing their drivesuits. I've always been a fan of drawing armor, so this was definitely my comfort zone.
More sneak peeks for this WIP fic under the cut, for funzies. And may the 4th be with you!
Din rolls his shoulders in his drivesuit as he makes his way through the shatterdome. After all these years he thought it might be odd to get back into the suit, but it's like he never left. It's almost uncanny how natural it feels to put on the old polycarbonate armor.
After the confrontation between Marshal Skywalker and Luke, Din isn't sure what to expect as he makes his way to the Crest's conn-pod. It was clear Luke was the best candidate, even ignoring their drift compatibility, he was the only other person who had experience in an actual Jaeger. It made no sense for the Marshal to keep Luke grounded from a strategical standpoint, so it must be personal.
It didn't take a genius to realize that the relationship between the Marshal and his son was strained. Din didn't have the first clue as to why, but despite it, he understood where the Marshal was coming from. Even with everything on the line, he's not sure he could ever willingly put his son's life on the line. Thinking about it, Din is surprised that the Marshal even let Luke pilot for as long as he did. If Grogu grew up wanting to be a pilot, if the war lasted that long, Din isn't sure he'd be able to handle it.
But the way Luke and him fought. His skin was still electric from the way they met strike for strike. Din can't imagine piloting with anyone else after that. He isn't sure he'll even be compatible enough with any of the other candidates. Then what? Will he just go home? Watch from the sidelines as they make a run for the breech? He isn't sure what's worse, being unsuccessful here and watching his slow death on the TV, or being unsuccessful at the breech. Either way he'll die knowing he failed, failed the world, failed his son. He can't let that happen. So he'll just have to succeed. And the only way to do that is with Luke.
Din had just made up his mind when he approached the scaffolding that would lead him to the Crest's conn-pod. He was about to turn around and find the Marshal when a familiar figure walked towards him.
"Luke..?" Din trailed off. Luke was wearing a shiny black drivesuit and a sunny smile.
"Looks like I won that bet after all." Luke jogs over to Din's side, giving him a friendly punch on the arm before making his way to the ladder.
Din stays frozen for a long moment, unsure of what to make of the situation. He just stares as Luke begins to climb the ladder up to the conn-pod, helmet under his arm. Halfway up Luke pauses and turns towards him, meeting his gaze.
"You coming or not, partner?" Luke asks with a smile bordering on mischievous.
Din can't but help but return a small smile before jogging to catch up to Luke.
~~~
Just a cute little moment before reliving ✨trauma✨ in the drift!
Pt.1 | Pt.2 | Pt.4
Welcome to part 3 of my madness as I continue to take inspiration from scenes in the movie. This is when Din get's a full view of Luke's scars (and is caught looking) not long after the drift compatibility tryouts. He still doesn't know of their origins, but he might find out soon 👀👀👀 (More info under the cut if you're interested).
Anyways, hope my insanity entertains y'all! There's still plenty more to come and perhaps even more in the works.
P.S. All the love that this idea has been shown has been a great motivator for me to work on the fic. So thank you to everyone who's interacted with these posts and have shown their interest. Glad to know I'm not alone in being interested in a niche ship and a 10 year old movie crossover.
More info about Luke's Scars: It starts with part of the timeline I've formulated.
2027 - Luke becomes a pilot with Biggs.
January, 2028 - Death of Paz; Birth of Grogu; Din leaves the Jaeger program
August, 2028 - Death of Biggs; Luke is injured;
2029 - Leia becomes a pilot and is Luke's new partner
So, essentially Luke joined the program very young (17) while Leia was still studying politics with the Organas. Biggs was Luke's drift partner and they piloted together for a year.
The destruction of Razor Crest and the death of Paz/disappearance of Din marked the turning point for the Jaeger program. Not long after that incident the Jaegers were struggling to fight back against the onslaught of Kaiju. More frequent attacks along with higher category Kaiju started to wear them thin.
In a particularly dicey situation, Luke and Biggs were deployed on their own to deal with a CATIII Kaiju while backup was on the way. Despite how skilled the two were, the Kaiju overwhelmed them before backup could come and their Con Pod was ripped from their Jaeger. The damage caused an energy serge through the pilot suits causing Luke to get his scars. Those injuries, plus the ones from getting tossed onto shore, also resulted in Bigg's death.
After hearing about this, and while Luke was recovering. Leia decided to join the program and began her training. By the time Luke was recovered she was graduating cadet school and they were able to pilot together. It took some time for Luke to get used to piloting again after being connected to someone who died, but he trained himself to feel the serenity in the drift and keep those memories at bay. Luke's control while in the drift is next to no one except maybe Anakin, but he hasn't piloted in a long time, so it's hard to say.
Speaking of Anakin, he isn't supper happy about his children being pilots, but there wasn't much he could do to dissuade them. After Padme's death during a Kaiju attack, and Anakin subsequently blaming himself for it, he threw himself into the program. He wasn't able to raise the twins because he was on duty so they were raised by Owen and Beru as well as mentored by the Organas (mostly Leia).
Leia is resentful of Anakin for leaving them when they were so young and had just lost their mother. Luke mostly blames himself in an unreasonable way and thinks he wasn't worth enough for Anakin to stick around. The reason Anakin did leave was so he could try to stop the Kaiju and make the world safe for his kids. However, in the process, he may have lost the time he could have had with them.
Pt.1 | Pt.3 | Pt.4
Another addition to this AU because It's been living in my head rent free for ages. I can't do a Pacific Rim AU without recreating the iconic Kwoon scene. Also, I was too lazy to draw backgrounds so I just stole them from the movie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Under the cut is a teaser of the fic I'm trying to write. It's a first draft, so there's probably some mistakes. Also, I'm still kind of in Screen Writing mode from school, so please don't mind if there's not a lot of internal character narration.
“Four points to two,” Luke calls after the final candidate falls. His emotions are carefully masked on his face but Din can see how tense he is.
“We’re wasting time, Marshal. He’s barely compatible with any of them, this isn’t going to work,” Luke says.
“What do you suggest?” The Marshal raises a brow.
“Put me in charge, I’m drift compatible with several cadets. We don’t need him.” Luke gestures towards Din. The look on his face makes Din’s blood boil. Contempt. What did he ever do to Luke to earn this?
“What’s your problem, Skywalker?” Din stomps towards the edge of the mat.
“I’ve already told you, I don’t think you're the right man for the job,” Luke replies. He’s now turned squarely towards Din, his face back to that eerie calm. It sends a shiver down Din’s spine.
“No, there’s more. You’ve got a problem with me.” Din steps closer, trying to ignore the piercing blue of Luke’s eyes.
“Enough! both of you.” Marshal Skywalker turns to them both.
“If you think you’re so much better, then let’s go.” Din points his bō at Luke. “If you win, you can pilot the Crest. If I win, you back off.” Din holds Luke's gaze, projecting his challenge.
“Neither of you are in the position to make that decision,” Anakin states, breaking the spell.
“What? Think your own blood isn’t good enough to beat me?” Din didn’t know Marshal Skywalker that well, but from what he did know, the man was prideful. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest move, but it got him what he wanted.
The Martial turned towards Luke, earning his attention. No words were exchanged between them, the Martial simply gave a nod. A brief look of satisfaction washed over Luke’s face. Din turned towards the mat to prepare for the fight before Luke’s eyes turned back to him.
Luke stepped to the edge of the mat, shoes and outer shirt removed. He bowed at the waist before stepping forward. He was in a simple black tank top and the standard cargo pants. It was the first time Din had seen any of his skin exposed beyond his face. His arms and neck were covered in pale, lightning-like scars that looked like they extended beyond what Din could see. He wasn’t sure what to make of them. He knew almost nothing about Luke when he really thought about it. Only what he heard from the news from the past four years.
He had to admit, it made him earn a little more respect for the kid. At first he’d seemed like a petulant child who was getting his favorite toy taken away, but now, Din wasn’t as sure that was the case. He had no more time to think on it as he and Luke passed each other on the mat, walking to opposite sides, then turning to face each other.
In the blink of an eye Luke swung his bō with the finesse of a warrior. He moved forward before stopping in the middle of the mat as he pulled his bō up in defense. Din followed suit, taking on a more aggressive starting position. He could tell Luke was analyzing him, eyes flitting around to every point of his body. Din took the opportunity to attack. In one swift moment he had his bō mimicking a strike at Luke’s skull.
“One, Zero.” The words had barely left his mouth before Luke made a counter attack. In a flash Luke had reversed their positions with a satisfied smirk.
Without wasting any more time the two began to fight again in an explosion of movement. The people in the kwoon reacted to them, but Din’s focus narrowed in until it was only them in the room. He watched Luke’s movements carefully, anticipating and blocking every attack that came and returning his own. He picked up on a franticness in Lukes’s movements and took advantage, landing an attack on his ribs.
“You’re too eager, you’re projecting your moves,” Din commented as they reset.
“I don’t need your advice.” Despite his words, Luke waited, ready for Din’s next move.
Luke swiftly blocked everything Din threw at him and pushed back even harder. In the next moment Luke attacked with a flurry of blows, catching Din off guard. He was stronger than he looked.
“Two, two.” Luke had once again evened the score.
There was barely a pause before they were at it again. This bout lasted longer than the others, both having picked up on each other’s gambit. They danced around each other, the only sound in Din’s ears were the clacking of their bō staffs and their heavy breathing. Neither was holding back.
In a blur of motion Luke darted towards Din’s legs, throwing him off balance. Din rolled out of the throw but as he lifted his head he was met with Luke’s bō to his throat. Luke's eyes were no less intense this close.
“Two, Three.” Luke stepped back into a ready position. “Better watch out, Djarin.” There was a satisfied smirk on his face. He was winning. Din wouldn’t give up that easily.
He pulled out every trick he had, but Luke seemed to always be a step ahead. He was too fast, almost as if he could read Din’s mind. From the outside it would almost look like this was rehearsed. In the end, it was Din’s weight advantage that won him the point. He moved in close and pinned Luke's arm before throwing him down to the mat. The blond hit the ground on his back, breath escaping his lungs from the impact.
Din almost went to help him up but Luke threw his legs backwards into a handstand before standing back up. He barely looked affected, the only sign of fatigue on him was the sweat on his forehead that matted down his blond hair.
“Three, Three,” Din called. “And there’s no need to show off.”
The next point would declare a winner. There was a smile on Luke’s face, different from the ones before. This one was more open, leaving Din feeling dizzy instead of insulted.
Din tried to understand it but there was no more time to ponder as Luke set on his next attacks. He was more aggressive than he’d been the rest of the fight but Din pushed back, not without some difficulty. Luke danced around Din with a frightening agility. The only thing that kept Din in the fight for so long were his reflexes. He knew he had to end this fight soon or Luke would eventually wear him down.
In a decisive move Din attacked at Luke’s head, trading off his defense for offense. He had Luke on the move, nearly pushing him off the mat. However, before he could land a finishing blow Luke darted to the side, slipping his leg between Din’s and toppling him to the floor. When Din processed what happened, he was pinned under Luke’s hips on his chest and his bō at his neck.
Cheers erupted from the gathered crowd, but Din’s view had narrowed into Luke as he stood up. Din stayed on the ground, still a bit stunned from the end of the fight. He wasn’t really sure how to feel about its outcome. But one thing was for certain, he and Luke were drift compatible. Very drift compatible.
Din was so lost in his thoughts he didn’t even realize Luke was reaching down to him until his hand was in his face. He took it and allowed Luke to help him to his feet.
“You felt it too, didn’t you?” Luke asked.
“Yeah.”
Pt.2 | Pt.3 | Pt.4
This idea has been brewing in my mind for a while now. There have been some discussions in the dinluke server that boosted those ideas even more. I've been wanting to post all the art I've done for a while but I've been nervous and also wanted to get an idea for a fic.
I am absolutely obsessed with Pacific Rim and dinluke, so this seemed like a logical combination. So if anyone wants to listen to my rants about this stuff I could literally ramble for hours.
This is also inspired by a screencap from Pacific Rim, so if anyone knows it I love you. I have so much more art to post so I'll be occasionally posting with extra info about this AU.
Luke has been a pilot since he was a teen, along with Leia. Din used too be a pilot with Paz but after Paz was killed during a Kaiju attack Din suddenly left the Jager program. This scene is Luke showing Din around the Hong Kong Shatterdome and the newly restored 'Razor Crest' the last MKIII Jaeger intact.
Since creators were revealed here's my piece from the DinLuke server Secret Santa! I had a lot of fun participating and seeing everyone's work.
Hope y'all had a great holiday season!
DinLuke week day 5 - Prince/Protector AU
Once again this was an excuse to draw Luke in the Padmé drip. I absolutely love this dress so I had to draw it. So here it is, Prince of Naboo Luke and Knight/Bodyguard Din.
Close up and nighttime version under the cut.
Backgrounds are hard.
DinLuke week day 1 - Mand'alor & Alo'riduur
Uhhh here we go I guess, my first art post ever on Tumblr and it's DinLuke. I almost never draw fan art but thanks to DinLuke week I've now drawn several pieces for these two. I love them. I couldn't help it even if I wanted to.
On another note, I really liked doing the lighting for this! I also got to draw Luke in Padmé inspired fit which is one of my favorite things. Luke is a fashion icon and he must follow in the footsteps of his amazing mother.
Slight close up to get those details I worked way too hard on. As a note, the pattern on Luke's outer robe was hand drawn because all the pattern brushes I found didn't look quite right. So yeah.