Fandom_Memes redux

[ladyofleithian]

1. Pick a character, pairing, or fandom you like.
2. Turn on your music player and put it on random/shuffle.
3. Write a drabble related to each song that plays. You only have the time frame of the song to finish the drabble; you start when the song starts, and stop when it’s over. No lingering afterwards!
4. Do ten of these, then post them.




Role Reversal verse drabbles:


1. What's This by Flyleaf:

Even flying into Coruscant, Luke couldn't help but be amazed by how truly huge the city was. It was nothing -- absolutely nothing -- like anything he'd seen before. Not even in his boyhood dreams of leaving Tatooine and going soaring. I must be dreaming. Wake up, Luke; it isn't fair...

But that voice was squashed as quickly as it came.

"So, you like it, kid?" Han's voice was teasing, almost jovial, and Luke found himself grinning despite himself.

"It's..." Luke swallowed. "There's really no words for how beautiful this is."

"It's pretty amazing to see your joy at the small things." Mara had joined them now.

Luke grinned. "You have no idea how tedious life on Tatooine is."

"How?"

"Well," Luke said, grinning now despite himself, "If you could imagine the brightest center of the universe, let's say Tatooine's farthest from it."

"I see."

And somehow, for the first time since he left Tatooine, somehow, Luke felt better.


2. Already Gone by Crossfade:

Qui-Gon was dead.

Even as Luke stepped away from the shattered window, he found his hand trembling. He heard a faint sobbing, and felt compelled to move towards whoever was making that horrible, awful sound, but somehow, Shira

no, Lumiya

was holding him back -- it took a while before he realized that the one making that sobbing noise

that horrible, hellish, raw sobbing noise

was, in fact, him.

"What have I done?" Even that question, next to everything else

Caedus, for example

tasted so hollow in his mouth that it almost made him sick.

"You did what you could," Lumiya said. "He was so dedicated to the Republic he'd give his life for it -- whether it was practical or not."

"He had a talent for doing it," Luke said, a weak smile gracing his lips. Then he faltered. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That you were Lumiya." He could already feel the anger forming like the beginnings of a tidal wave. "You were using us! You...you knew we'd get swept up in this war, you knew -- "

"I did," Lumiya said. "I never wanted to put you in this situation, Luke. But the circumstances called for it."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

"The Republic's corrupt. If I'd been exposed as the Sith Lord, I would have been executed by the Jedi, and my efforts to reform the Republic would have been for nothing." Lumiya paused. "Is that option truly so preferable?"

And somehow, Luke thought, he didn't want to know the answer to that question.


3. Nemo by Nightwish:

It was roaming what was left of the Tusken camp that Caedus found her: curled in a ball and shivering, her wild blonde hair filthy and thick, covering her body almost like a protective coat. And it had taken a while before he'd managed to persuade her that he meant no harm, that he was trying to help her. Even looking around the camp, at the remains of the men and women who had been slaughtered in his son's rampage, Caedus couldn't help but feel sick.

Luke...Luke, what have you done?

That wasn't how it was supposed to be. Had Lumiya betrayed them both? Had she --

No. She'd never. And yet the voice still remained in the back of his mind, still niggling at him even as he took the girl back to the INVISIBLE HAND to be healed up.

When she woke, her eyes were clear -- he could see so many things in them. Sorrow, yet also hope. Had the girl had big dreams once, before his son, through sheer...whim, for lack of a better word, had shattered them?

Was he wrong in wanting Luke to continue his legacy long after he was gone?

Somehow, Caedus didn't know. The best he could do was listen to the girl's story. How Luke had come to the Tusken camp, asking for the release of Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru, and how, when it was revealed they'd been tortured, he'd gone into a blind rage and slaughtered nearly everyone in the camp. She'd been the only survivor.

Even thinking about it was too much. He hadn't understood at the time why his son would do such a thing -- and somehow, Caedus supposed, he doubted he ever would.


4. Blow Me Away by Breaking Benjamin:

The skies of Coruscant blazed with war. It looked normal enough from the city below, looking up into the sky above -- but in the thick of war, it was far different. Perhaps it looked great in the holos, but there was nothing glorious about this war. If anything, it solidified Luke's belief that everything in the galaxy

every Vong, every Corellian Separatist, every...everything

was out to get you.

And yet he had to persist. He had to find Shira Brie, had to get her off the INVISIBLE HAND. He still remembered when the reports had trickled in, when he'd heard that the Chancellor had been kidnapped by Alema Rar -- and the hunch that somehow, Darth Caedus was behind it.

Even remembering Alema's face from the holos made him shiver. There was such a lack of humanity to it, such an eeriness in her eyes

and her voice

the way she said "we", as if speaking for the Corellian Separatists themselves.

that it made Luke's blood run cold. It wasn't hard to imagine spearing her for whatever she'd done to Chancellor Brie -- of course, Master Yoda and Han Solo would rebuke him for thinking such things.

Most of all, though, Luke wished he'd been there. He hadn't been quick enough with Owen and Beru, or with any of his other comrades that had died at Caedus' hands. He wouldn't fail this time.

So into the thick of the battle he went regardless. He would save the Chancellor. He would save the Republic.

Between him and the Dark Side itself, somehow, it was no contest.


5. Like It Used To Be from NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (2010) soundtrack:

Mustafar was the picture of hell.

Even disembarking from his X-wing, Luke Skywalker, now Darth Vader, couldn't help but have a queasy feeling in his gut. Beside him, R2, as if sensing his Master's discomfort, offered some uneasy beeps.

"It's okay, R2," Vader said. "It's just..." He sighed. "Feels like I've seen this before. Like something out of a dream. I dunno...maybe I'm just going crazy."

R2 offered some comforting beeps.

"I wish I could take you with me, R2," Vader said, slowly, "But I can't. It's just a feeling...this is a task I have to do alone."

Rid the galaxy of its imperfection...

Somehow, in between that and the idiotic teachings of the Jedi -- somehow, it was no contest. Nothing was ever a contest with Luke Skywalker -- do or do not; there is no try Yoda had often said, and somehow, that statement managed to resonate with him.

Vader closed his eyes and sighed, before setting off towards the bunker, hand on his lightsaber. Best to lull them into a false sense of security. None of the Vong could think that a Sith would defeat them -- by now, Shimmra had become so arrogant that he seemed to think he could take on the gods themselves. How wrong he was. How deluded.

How...despicable. Even thinking of Mimban and Kamino was enough to make the hatred in Vader's blood burn hotter than it would have otherwise. He hated the Vong. Hated the way he couldn't feel them in the Force. Hated the cold, yellow eyes without any semblance of humanity, and those teeth ...

And what they'd done to Brakiss...even thinking about it made Luke shudder. They deserve to pay. All of them.

So into the bunker on Mustafar Vader walked, without any semblance of fear, any semblance of doubt. Somehow, impossibly so, ending the war and setting up utopia in place of the false utopia the Republic had presented

how tragic, how delusional people like Leia Organa truly were...

suddenly seemed very easy.

Too easy.

A feral grin curved Vader's lips. Somehow, he knew, he was going to enjoy this.


6. Dance In The Dark by Lady Gaga:

"Vestara? What do you remember about your mother?" Anakin's voice was gentle -- too gentle. Some of his sarcasm and endearing candor would be more than welcome in this situation, but if anything, he seemed quieter -- quieter than Kashyyyk itself.

Vestara closed her eyes at the unexpected question, tried not to flinch at it. Already, she remembered the faint gasps and moans of agony, of attempts to console that ultimately were in vain, of one phrase that rang in her nightmares ever since she and Anakin had met up in Jabba's Palace.

Protect them...save him...

It made no sense. It had a good melody to it, Vestara thought, but even that didn't say much.

"I don't remember much of her," Vestara said, softly. "Mostly images. Feelings." A low sigh. "I had a feeling she didn't want to go, though." She looked closer into Anakin's eyes -- somehow, they seemed distant, almost feverish -- like the time her father had fallen ill and they needed to find medicine for him. It was the closest thing she'd experienced to loss -- at least, even looking at Anakin, he reminded her too much of her father. Too painfully.

I wonder what he's doing now...

"Why are you asking?" Vestara said, trying to keep her voice gentle. As tough and resilient as Anakin seemed, at the slightest touch he'd break. Such a contradiction. An exquisite contradiction, but a contradiction nonetheless.

"I barely knew my mother," Anakin said, softer now, and even then, Vestara had gotten to know him enough to know that he was lying. "I -- "

"What is this really about?" Had Anakin gotten into the Wookiees' ale? Or Obi-Wan's ale for that matter?

Then, in one simple sentence ( "I have to leave." ) and one simple reason ( "Vader's my father. Our father. I have to save him." ), Vestara's world as she knew it shattered.


7. You Fight Me by Breaking Benjamin:

She wasn't going to let him go off and face Vader on his own. Anakin knew that. But after everything, somehow, Anakin wondered if there was something, anything, he could do to reverse the tide. To save Vader. And perhaps he could save his friends as well -- Vader was after them because of him. And though he doubted they'd give him up so easily

they were frustratingly protective that way

Anakin knew this was something he had to do. Something he needed to do.

"Sacrifice, a Jedi's life is," Yoda had told him, and somehow, that statement resonated stronger with Anakin than any other statement, any other platitude of Yoda's, ever could.

And if he could save his friends, if he could help them, if he could make this senseless war end ...

"Halt." Stormtroopers. Of course. "Identify."

Anakin took a deep breath. Somehow, this seemed more intimidating than he thought. Something deep inside him told him to run back, turn back, go back to the bunker on Kashyyyk before it was too late, but another part of him rejected the idea: he'd come this far to save his father. Something had to give.

"Anakin Skywalker here."

"Ah, I see," one of the troopers said. "Come with us; Lord Vader's been expecting you."

And somehow, Anakin mused, facing Vader was suddenly very easy.



8. Eyes Wired Shut by Edgewater:

They seemed to be fighting a losing battle. No, worse than a losing battle. They were being utterly skewered by the Empire. The best they could do was bank a hasty retreat. If they found a place to hide for a while, Padme thought, perhaps they could regroup.

She'd never been one for surrender. But Anakin's life was at stake -- and knowing Vader, perhaps worse. She'd had a feeling that Vader had been pursuing them with greater ferocity ever since his humiliation at Yavin

which said something. Vader wasn't one to give up, and neither was Lumiya

but even now...

Vader's message still resonated in her head. Every moment you keep Anakin Skywalker from me, more people will die.

But Padme Naberrie wasn't going to give up. Not in this millennia.

"Give the evacuation signal," she ordered General Rieekan. She turned to the others. "And get to your transports!"

"We can't leave you -- "

"Go!" Padme ordered. "I'll meet up with you in a minute."

But even now, the collapse of one of the passages holding the last transport blocked that possibility. The FALCON was their last hope.

And even hurrying towards the FALCON with the others, Padme doubted the fight would ever, truly, be over.


9. You by Breaking Benjamin:

Even after Life Day at Obi-Wan's house, even after Hoth and Bespin and so many other planets, Padme didn't know what to do with herself. It's not that she quite disliked Anakin

on the contrary, she was quite grateful to him for the work he'd done for the Rebellion

giving hope to those who had none, as Mon Mothma would put it

and his company was...engaging, really

but how could she possibly pursue a relationship with him when there was a war to win? And there were...other reasons. Despite what most of the Rebellion thought, she'd never quite recovered from what had happened to Naboo -- or her torture by Vader.

Anakin and the others

her closest friends, that is

were helpful in helping her rebuild, helping her recover -- but even then, there were times when she sympathized with Anakin's need for revenge. Even hearing the details of Vader's atrocities done in the name of "ridding the galaxy of imperfection"

whatever that meant

was enough to make her blood boil. But even then, it was only memories of her father, of his wisdom, and Palpatine's support

and Obi-Wan's, and so many others', though they didn't quite realize it

that kept her from going completely insane. From...cracking, for lack of a better word.

But even then, the nightmares of Naboo still echoed inside her head. For in a galaxy where even gods could die and even stars burned out, something in her doubted that the galaxy would ever know true peace -- ever again. At the very least, the work done to get there would be astounding.

Still, she was no Force user, but that didn't mean her efforts couldn't count for something.


10. While Your Lips are Still Red by Nightwish:

It was after Yavin that Vader finally came to terms with the nightmares that had been haunting him about Han -- they were trying to point out the boy that he'd missed. The boy that had destroyed the Death Star. Even talking with Lumiya

once she'd allowed him to finally speak with her, once she'd managed to recover from her usual bursts of fury

gave him...more than a few clues.

"I believe this boy may be the offspring of Luke Skywalker."

"How is this possible?" He'd killed Mara. Killed her -- and their son had died with her. And yet...

Even now, Vader had no clue where to go. Recover his son, and overthrow Lumiya and rule the galaxy with his son at his side? Keeping the watch, perhaps more than she ever did?

Perhaps it could work. She was too lenient. She wasn't doing enough to alleviate the suffering of the common folk -- though their opinions varied, there were lines to be drawn. He could still hear the screams of innocents in his dreams, and all the while, she was barely seeing the suffering of the common folk. Disease would be history under the rule of the Skywalkers...the galaxy would become paradise. As it was meant to be.

And perhaps, finally, he'd have his revenge on Lumiya for what she'd done to him. Leaving him in this state, stripping him of all he had.

Revenge...revenge on Lumiya, on Han and Yoda and Mara...revenge on the galaxy itself...somehow, those two aspects -- revenge and reform -- could not have tasted sweeter. Yet somehow, he didn't know where to begin. The boy could be anywhere. If Vader wasn't careful, the boy would be killed in a firefight before he could reach him.

And somehow -- inexplicably, even for him -- that was the last thing Vader wanted.