#herbie asks

[starboundanon]

There may have been some bad behaviour on Anakin’s part, I will admit

[thewriterowl]

Inspired by recent conversations, my beloved Owl, may I request your headcanons for the first time Vader gives his baby boy a great big burly bear hug and maybe accidentally dislocates something because Luke is smol? ♥️🙏

You can have anything you want!

Oh man...this is adorable, hilarious, and a bit sad.

Luke is tiny. I will never take critiques on this. Luke is smol. He itty-bitty. He is a little ball of fluff with "an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face" that makes anacondas do want. But I digress...Luke = small, Vader = massive

Vader is also someone who hasn't received or shown physical affection to anyone in twenty+ years. He doesn't really know how to do it. So when Luke is finally ready to actually give and take a hug, Vader may get a bit excited and...squish...with a side of crunch.

Luke, of course, doesn't hold it against his father. He finds it a bit funny. Besides, it was the first time he's been hurt with love...it was far better than being hurt with lightening or blasters or whatnot. But yeah...his shoulder is popped and a rib might be a little busted. But this is Luke and he has no idea how to handle pain normally so is all "welp...this is my life now."

Vader is crushed. He is a monster. He has harmed the most precious being in the whole universe. He has done so terribly wrong.

Luke is really all, "daddy....chill...please. It's really ok? It...uh, it just means we have to practice! That's a positive. right?"

Well, that perks up Vader's puppy ears. Practice hugging? He can hug his son again and again and again? Yes please.

He is a bit weary afterwards, of course. Luke just says to hug him soft and apply pressure and he'll tell him when to stop. That works well and now Vader knows the exact amount of power to put into the hug without harming angel of his life.

It is one of the few things Luke has any power/control/authority over. He finds something pleasant about getting something like this back in his life. So they balance it out where every day Luke gets his maintenance disciple and Vader gets his hug training. it really helps them get closer and it leads to Vader having to open up a bit about why this is so awkward for him and the pain he has bene through. it really tugs at Luke's heart and makes him reach out for him more to just help his father feel better and find Light and good in his life once more.

Of course the downside is now Vader is a master hugger and does it whenever he wants...and will also use his size to his advantage and yoink up his son away from whatever he was doing and takes him off to do a hugging session.

Luke just sulks as he is carried off like a football cause he does not find his height or small form all that amusing.

Vader adores it.

[starboundanon]

Hi Herbie! I read the last chapter of SotF and it was very well written, and wow you really know how to throw in those conflicting emotions and feelings. Masterfully done! Like Luke feeling trapped and wondering if he will be allowed to leave, but also wanting to be there at the same time! Thank you so much for posting.

So after I read that chapter, I was really thinking about it and kinda wandered into “what if” territory. And I wanted to know what you think would happen if this:

What if…. “Somehow Padmé was alive…” (LMAO mocking sequel trilogy) and for whatever reason, she either thought they were dead or was kept from them. So anyways she finds Anakin and Luke, around the time of this most recent chapter (but doesn’t know what they have been up to) and of course they are both delighted, Anakin to have his Angel back, and Luke gets to meet his mom! In this scenario, would Anakin suddenly have less physical interest in Luke, now that he can be with his wife, or would he still be trying to sneak to be with Luke? If he stopped going after Luke, would Luke become hurt and jealous of his mom? Would he do bad things to try and I get more attention back? Or be relieved and happy with their new “normal” family?

Oof, anon. I love this ask.

I was talking about this with @hornyfandomtrash, but there really would be only two options, if Padmé was alive.

The first, as HFT said, Anakin would have to extend his relentless, controlling behavior equally onto both of them. His jealousy would force him to keep them separated, except for when he wanted the three of them to be together, similar to how he already restricts Luke's time spent with Obi-Wan until it suits him. He would probably never let Luke and Padmé be alone together, and even that wouldn't be enough to really stem his possessiveness. Padmé would, most likely, be driven away, forced to go back to wherever she's been these last 18 years. Anakin wouldn't take it well, but I think Luke would be relieved. She isn't the parent he spent his life idolizing, after all. She was a stranger to him, really, in the end.

The only other option is a lot darker, but the only way the three of them could really stay the three of them is if Padmé knew, and refused to intervene, regardless of how she actually felt about it. I personally can't see her joining in — Anakin probably wouldn't let her, even if she wanted to — but maybe she's willfully ignorant, or distantly consumed by guilt. Maybe, when Anakin "tucks Luke into bed" at night, she pretends to be asleep when her husband finally comes to bed, pointedly ignoring the fact that it's two hours later.

Regardless of which way it went, no, Anakin wouldn't lose physical interest in Luke. I think he crossed that boundary with no intention of ever turning back — knowing he never could, once he did. I don't think a "normal" family is possible for them, not from the beginning of this story. The moment Anakin took Luke for that bike ride on The Lady, things were too far to turn back from, Padmé or no.

[starboundanon]

The recent ask about Foundling Luke and your answer gave me a visceral need for a De-Aged Luke being fiercely protected by Artoo 😭 I'm just saying but in your WIP where both Luke and Vader are De-Aged i can see Artoo being ambivalent about Vader because it's Friend Ani but it's also Enemy Vader so he settles with Must Protect Little Angel (Luke) as a compromise and goes from helping Vader to mend things and all to purposefully fucking him over at the drop of a hat😭 i just need my favorite disaster husbands (namely Artoo and Threepio) to be given some love too

- 7 AM Anon, just as excited about all your other WIPs as I am with SotF

Rest assured, my friend, if protective Artoo is where your heart is, both the Mando Foundling au and the deaged!Luke & Vader au will be right up your alley. ☺️

[starboundanon]

Hello! I had a random question about the mando foundling au that I was wondering if you could answer??? Will it be like Luke was de-aged as he currently was or like his body transformed to exactly how it was when he was that age as a kid? Like will he still have force lightning scars and an artificial hand that would now be too big for him and so he’s walking around one handed? Or maybe it shrunk back down with him? Would he still have a lightsaber? Also, will Artoo be there? And what age will he physically become? Sorry lol, these are a lot of questions. Feel free to ignore any you don’t want to answer if you feel they descend into spoiler territory :)

Hey! No worries, I’m always happy to answer questions about Mando Foundling au. :)

Luke will still have his wounds, which is part of the reason Din is so convinced he’s been abused, and as a result of that and his recent head injury has created this fantasy of being an adult Jedi capable of fully protectint himself. His lightning scars and (damaged) prosthetic hand will still be there, as will all his other old scars (beneath a bunch of new ones).

He’ll still have his lightsaber, and what remains of his Jedi robes after he’s finished “tailoring” them to his new size. Artoo is with him when he crash lands on Concordia. The age he degresses to will be hotly debated, though Luke will consider himself to be closer to 10 while Din pegs him as closer to 6, with them reaching a reluctantly agreed upon compromise of about 8.

[starboundanon]

congrats on sins of the father now the most popular vaderluke and aniluke fic on ao3! any idea when the next chapter is coming?

Aww, thanks anon. Not sure about "most popular" but I am very grateful to everyone who's left kudos, comments and bookmarks. Thank you all so much.

I am hoping to update again this Sunday. The chapter count is probably going to go up again, so we'll see how it goes, lol.

[starboundanon]

Any snippets for the deaged! Luke & Vader story?

Ah, the deaged!Luke AU. Not-so-secretly one of my favs. I'm so happy someone's interested in seeing more of it. ♥ Thanks, anon!

"What happened?"

He has only heard the boy's voice a scant handful of times — almost always angry or afraid. While there is certainly fear drenching it now, it sounds nothing like the one he'd so expeditiously committed to memory. Warmth has given way to softness, the pitch high and sweet.

If Luke was unfamiliar before, he's a stranger to him now.

Only when he tears his gaze away from his hands does he realize his son wasn't speaking to him. In all likelihood, at least. He sits across the dais, turned away from him, tiny palms pressed flat to hewn rock. Thin arms tremble to hold up a body that seems impossibly small. Even in profile, Luke's eyes are frightfully wide, staring at the uneven ground between his hands, as if it might hold the answers to his questions. "What happened?"

"I do not know," Vader confesses. His own voice nearly startles him — nearly. Unlike his son's, the sound of it is uncomfortably familiar. He curses the paltry part of himself that yearns, briefly, for his helmet and its vocoder, then slowly stands on unsteady feet; bone and flesh and quivering muscle. "I warned you that the power of a vergence was not to be taken lightly."

The boy does not reply, nor even seem to have heard him. Vader stalks along the perimeter of the dark pond that separates him from his son, orienting himself with the peculiar gait of his restored limbs. Though his previous body was nearly a foot taller than his current one, he feels gigantic. Larger than life.

Whole.

Luke seems completely oblivious to him, until his shadow falls over the boy's kneeling form, plunging it into darkness. Then, for the first time since the Force propelled them into this conundrum, his son freezes and lifts his head, up up up the length of Vader's lanky body, blue gaze magnetizing to his own.

It's a face he's never seen before, but Vader would know it anywhere. The squared jaw is rounder, sharp edges softened with baby fat. His hair is lighter, a shaggy mop of blond curls that would have mirrored his own, once upon a time. Her nose and mouth blend seamlessly with features he provided; the wide brow, now less pronounced, the bright shade of blue eyes that tip closer to green than grey. It's the face he's spent hours memorizing from blurred holos and artists' renditions, but gentler, less brawny. Smaller than he has ever imagined it would've been, even in his most foolish dreams.

Vader holds out his hand, palm up, inviting. The air is cold, biting a chill into his skin, but it's a remarkable feeling. "Come with me."

He waits, but Luke doesn't reach up to take his hand. It occurs to him, belatedly, that the boy is so small — unless one of them stands or the other kneels, there is no way he could reach his father's outstretched palm from the floor.

Sinking to his knees is a muscle memory his body will never forget, before or after Mustafar. He kneels gingerly, expecting pain, but none comes. The tiled stones are unforgiving, but his legs do not protest the movement, his spine unbothered by his posture, his lungs seemingly unaware of the sudden change in pressure. To crouch like this has been agony for over two decades, but as he kneels before his son, the only thing Vader feels is trepidation.

"Son," he says again, unconcerned with the gentle lilt to his voice now, though perhaps he shouldn't be. "Come with me."

He reaches for the boy again, so close, he could take Luke into his arms without moving a muscle.

But he doesn't. Because in a flash of blue light — impressively fast for a child so small — the glowing blade of a familiar lightsaber is pointed toward his neck, keeping him at arm's length.

"Get," Luke says, vitriol dripping between rows of baby teeth, "back."

[starboundanon]

All I could think about was Obi-Wan drinking and then going over at Bail, completely drunk and talking about how he "should've listened to you. You were right. Worse, I wish you were right and this didn't happen" except Leia's listening in and both anger and guilt fill her because how did she not see it? Just how?

And just... Leia and Han will spend the rest of their life always thinking about him, and what they consider were their mistakes, looking for Luke and just for a way to help him now even if they know that they can hardly help someone who doesn't want that help (but that's the thing right? Luke did want their help but by the time they could give it to him it was far too late.)

- 7 AM Anon

Admittedly, thinking about what happened to Obi-Wan and Leia and Han after the fic is one of the hardest things about this ending. But that’s what I like about writing tragedies that end so openly: if that’s what you imagined happened afterwards, then that’s what happened! There’s nothing canonical to suggest those things couldn’t happen, so if you decide that Luke pushes Anakin from their penthouse balcony and runs back to his real family, then that can be the true ending to you.

I know some people find that unsatisfying, or exhausting, but I’ve always been a sucker for fics that light that spark to your imagination and let it blaze. Especially after a such a heavy fic, for me personally, it’s always more of a comfort to know that things could still work out — in another time, another story.

Thank you for reading along with this long, occasionally very angsty fic, my friend ♥️ Especially at the ungodly hour that you did, lol. And thank you for all the very kind asks along the way. 💋