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hellobrockie · 4 years

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Some very long Rambly TROS thoughts

Holy fuck there is so much wrong with this movie.

Let's start at the beginning. Kylo tracks down the wayfinder/holocron crystal thing that will lead him to the sith homeworld. We learn that Palpatine was behind both the Snoke and Vader voices in Kylo’s head-basically the dude has been manipulating him for 30 years. Kylo states very clearly he's gonna kill this motherfucker. This is very in line with the Last Jedi- Kylo wants to destroy everything- the Sith the Jedi the Resistance- because he’s tired of the constant push-pull of rejection and manipulation. BUT THEN HE DOESNT KILL PALPATINE???? At first the film argues that he doesn't kill Palps because Palps promises him the big FINAL ORDER fleet? Okay...but I don’t think Kylo really gives a shit about a big fleet of ships when it's offered by the fucker who has been scrabbling his brains for shits and giggles. Once the ‘Rey Palpatine’ thing comes to light, we are lead to believe Kylo went along with the whole final order plan because he wanted to kill Palpatine together with REY???? Ahh okay?

So now we switch back to Rey. She's basically a jedi, cool. And I guess the Skywalker saber just fixed itself, with literally no scars or anything. A great visual representation about how this film feels about character development that happened in The Last Jedi. So Rey breaks concentration and fails the courses. According to the film, this happens because sheisapalpatine. If you had two brain cells you would realize Rey could be upset for normal reasons ...like that in order to the Resistance to win she’s going to have to put Kylo down like a dog. Its kinda cool that Leia is her teacher (more on that later).

Soo then we spend the next hour on a pointless adventure with the Trio™. Which would be fun, if they were ever established as a Trio. Arguably the real trio might be Rose-Finn-Poe. More on Rose later. Here is a list of incomprehensible things that happen here:

Kylo reforges his mask. Because Reasons? The knights of Ren. Because Reasons?

A handful of force bond scenes. The first one actually isn’t half bad. By wearing the mask, Kylo is rejecting the intimacy inherent to the connection because he is about to defile it. Grabbing Rey’s necklace is a physical and emotional violation. It's the first time he has ever used the connection for personal gain. The other connection scenes mostly just play around with the two of them being able to pass each other stuff. They lack the careful editing of TLJ connection scenes. Disclaimer: I’m a pretty hard core Reylo and these scenes really lacked the magic they previously had.This might be un-purpose Kylo is clearly pretty lost as this point. Dull, lacking in heart like so much of this film.

Kylo becomes a cartoon power ranger villian spouting Palpatine exposition and attempting to create suspense by almost catching the trio a couple times. Some of the dialogue is almost Revenge of the Sith Anakin level awkward. It lacks both the unstable angry energy of FA or the sad tired boi energy of TLJ.

Rey makes force lighting because I guess she was upset and it's a genetic ability now???

Poe gets a female love interest, becuase hes heterosexual. HeTeroSeXUal.

Poe and Finn flirt for a whole hour while Poe checks out some new chick and Finn now has a harem thing kinda.

Poe is now a spice trader. BECAUSE YOU KNOW HE'S THE HAN SOLO OF THE TRILOGY. Let's just forget that TLJ establishes that Poe is his own character, probably loyal to the resistance since birth. His parents are rebellion alumni.

Two death fake outs. I don’t know why they had to give 3PO his memories back. He lost them at the end of the Prequels and R2 loved him anyway. Chewbacca capture was a missed opportunity to get some resolution to him shooting Kylo in the gut.

Hux is the spy. Lovely. He is the ultimate weak bitch. Tbh the most consistent character development. Arguably my favorite detail on the entire film. Perfect execution. Domhnall Gleason is a gift.

Now onto Endor. Endor has so much potential and squanders most of it.

Finn meets other people who left the stormtrooper program. Cool. Weird how it's tied to force sensitivity. I like the idea of the force putting Poe and Finn in the right place at the right time, but I think to imply people’s ability to escape slavery is tied to force sensitivity brings us to the problematic terrority of the sequels. Also the only one who talks to Finn is also black. And Clearly has a romantic vibe. Okay…..

The Rey Palpatine thing is made explicit. Even though anyone will half a brain figured it out 90 minutes ago. More wierd implications…..who would agree to fuck an old man Palpatine? So Rape i guess. Rey’s parents were normal...is this some kinda side material hook to read more about them or some shit??? Kylo refers to Rey’s parents as ‘filthy junk traders’. He's right. THEY SOLD HER INTO FUCKING SLAVERY. However Rey’s parents are good people??? WTF THIS IS THE JEDI COUNCIL ALL OVER AGAIN.

Soo Kylo destroys the wayfinder to force Rey to work with him. Anti-Reylos will often get their panties in a twist about how it’s an ‘abusive relationship’. This is the only scene that really comes off as manipulative- in a way it never did in TLJ. Partly because they play up this idea of power-hungry Kylo (which has little basis in reality. In FA he just wanted to make Snoke his daddy. And TLJ Kylo is just soo fucking lonely) rather than sad boi Kylo trying to hold onto someone. Damn the TLJ throne scene is soo careful with getting that energy right, balancing the heartbreak with a little gaslighting (sorry off topic). Then They Fight. Kylo doesn’t even pull out a saber at first because he literally has no intention of killing her. Rey fights because she's mad. Leia decides to intervene at this time, which is weird because Kylo still has no intention of hurting Rey. Apparently Leia sending Kylo a text is enough to freak him out. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIME FOR FLASHBACKS, MAYBE A ‘YOU’RE MY ONLY HOPE’ TO TIE HIM BACK TO HIS NAMESAKE.

Instead Rey gets him in the gut. She then heals him, something that should have been really intimate. This would have been time to kiss him in that wistful ‘ I wanted to know what it would be like before I exile myself forever way’. This is one of the scenes that desperately needed more breathing room AND GIVE KYLO SOME FUCKING DIALOGUE YOU COWARDS. Healing him combined with Leia stuff should have reduced Kylo to a pile of tears. I think he would find it completely overwhelming that someone thinks he is worth it, worth a part of their life source, worth their final breathes.

Oh woah surprise Han Solo. This kinda works for me because unlike robot Leia and fairy godmother Luke, Han looks alive. Plus Han is only a memory so Kylo has to save himself, make his own choice. Aww fuck this got me the closest to tears becuase he looks so fucking sad about the fact that he can’t go home. Damn you Adam Driver and you’re big weepy eyes. His mother is dead and I don’t think he ever truly realized that she wanted him back. I guess with the way things went with Luke, he just assumed he was unwanted. Even now, Han is the only one of the 3 Ben can really imagine taking him back. Who knew Han was such a softie. At the same time there is something so unintentionally sad about the fact that Ben’s whole family can become force ghosts and not a single one gives enough of a shit about him to show up at the turning point of his life.

Also the implication that Ben turns to protect Leia’s lifework is strange. Leia’s legacy is the Rebellion, a democratic senate, a planet wiped off the map, NOT SKYWALKER JEDI #2 JJ!!!!! Ben doesn’t even interact with any of the larger powers at work, he just saves Rey.

Also while Ben’s guilt and shame about killing Han (his true sin) keep him on the dark side, this doesn’t address the 8 million other reasons he left the light. Also why do Leia and Rey never discuss this???? His own fucking family repeatedly rejected him because of his ‘Vadar-ness’ which is ironic considering…….

Then we cut to Rey’s fairy godmother-esque trip to Ahch-To where she arms herself with all of the Skywalker’s personal effects:

Mad that Rian Johnson denied you that ESB fanservice call-back of Luke being able to pull his x-wing out of water?? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered.

Mad that Leia didn’t have lightsaber? Don’t worry JJ has got you covered, Leia was always prepared to be a back up to Luke because she doesn’t have her own perspective or anything or like a whole fucking political system to run. Also she stopped training because apparently completing her journey would end in Ben’s death...ooo SmArT foreshadowing that Rey using her lightsaber will end in one dead Ben boi.

Leia and Luke ALWAYS knew about Rey Palps. Which is funny because they threw their own flesh and blood in the trash because he seemed kinda Vader-y. I guess it's wrong to judge people by their bloodlines unless its your own bloodline. I can’t even.

There is no mention of Ben at all- even though Leia and Luke both died for him and Rey put her whole heart into saving him.

Now to Exeger or whatever again. Almost two hours in and we’re back at the planet we were on in the first 5 minutes.

Spaceship stuff happens. Take out your checklist to get those pilot and ship cameos. Ooo look its The Ghost! OG trilogy pilot! Lando is there! WOOO! Poe’s girlfriend lived somehow!

Ben’s last words are ‘Ow’.

Palps wants Rey to kill him because I guess that will make her evil? Since when does killing people make you evil? I don’t think killing Palps to save the world in the same as ‘striking your enemies down in hatred’ or whatever.

Oh Hey Ben is here. Palps doesn’t care much I guess even though trolling Skywalkers is his whole life’s passion.

Palps drains the life out of Ben/Rey. They don’t die. Ben goes flying into a pit. Rey has to face Palps alone because I guess even though Ben/Rey are stronger together and are cosmically linked the lone jedi thing will happen anyway?? Is feminism about doing everything on your own rather than building meaningful connections with your equal partner. Honestly only Men would think a women has to do everything alone to prove her worth, Rey has been wanting allies and family her whole life LET HER HAVE IT.

Also okay sooo Palps did technically kill Rey’s parents and she had about a whole 5 minutes to think about that. Multiple generations of Ben’s family have been tortured by this guy, so I think it would be rather cathartic to see him play a bigger role in the end of Palp.

Rey enters the Avatar State. Cue more fanservice cameos (I love you Ahsoka, but you said it yourself, you ain’t a jedi). In another backhanded slap to TLJ were back on the TheJediDidNothingWrong line of thinking. Anakin is present ...I wonder if anyone else is interested in talking to him…...

Rey dies. I’m not sure why. Palps legit sucked the life of her and she lived, but the Avatar State killed her.

Ben crawls out of pit. Damn Adam Driver has legs for days. He heals Rey, its kinda sweet but it's also really really weird that he hasn’t said anything. Not saying we need an over the top love declaration but even his emotionally constipated parents managed to get an ‘I love you’ out.

Ben saves Rey. The thing Anakin thought the dark side would give him the power to do. Interesting bookend. Sad that my boy has such low self preservation, he gives her his life without hesitation. Why do we have to die for other people? It’s much harder to have to live for other people. To move and grow beyond the past. To try and be our best everyday, even when its hard. Isn’t that real redemption?

Ben kisses Rey. Awww. Its missing some of the elements of a big romantic drama kiss, which I would be okay with ...if it was followed up with a big romantic kiss with a sunset on a new planet before the credits roll. Alas this does not happen. The audience is somewhat befuddled since their had been almost no dialogue referencing their emotional connections. The ‘no one knows me./I do.’ dialogue from the trailer did not appear in film.

Ben smiles. It has all the boyish charm and innocence Anakin wished he had in the prequels. Aww he really has never kissed anyone. I wonder when the last time he smiled was. HAS THIS MAN EVER HAD A GOOD DAY HIS ENTIRE LIFE. I am emotionally moved until approximately 2 seconds later….

Ben dies. There is no funeral. No mention. Rey doesn’t shed a single tear. This dude literally gave you his life without hesitation. Is Reylo one-sided? Or at least not equally felt? Ow. U The Resistance doesn’t wonder what happened to the Supreme leader. We know at the end of TLJ Luke became a legend, I do not think this happens to Ben.

The Resistance parties. Cue Return of the Jedi film reel. Poe and Finn are heterosexual. No resolution to the stupid ReyFinn force sensitve thing. Two women kiss. It will be cut out of the Chinese release.

Rey buries the lightsabers on Tatooine because you know Luke lived there and Leia once wore a metal bikini there. Rey choose the name Rey Skywalker. Which is interesting because she didn’t get along that well with Luke. She finished her training with Leia Organa Solo, Princess of Alderaan who just happens to have been a result of a sperm donation from Anakin Skywalker. She found a father figure in Han Solo. She loved a guy named Ben Solo. I’m not saying she should name herself Rey Solo, but it certainly is better than Rey Skywalker. I mean it's almost like a person's worth and ability aren’t dependent on either a bloodline or acceptance into the galaxies most powerful family. Rey nobody would have been fine. I’m not going to get into the feminist angle of a self made women tying herself to the legacy of a man. Cue theaterwide groaning.

Twin suns. Cool. I liked them better in The Last Jedi.

Rey has a yellow-ish lightsaber and maybe made out of her staff. Wonder where she got the crystals from and why they didn’t introduce it earlier. Possible implication she's going the way of the ‘grey’ jedi? idk some Jedi have yellow actually. Ahsoka had a yellow one. Not sure since this film is back on the JediwayisBest bullshit.

We see Luke and Leia's force ghosts. Ben’s last word was ‘ow’.

In Summary, some odd implications:

Rey Palpatine is quite possibly the worst idea of all time. Worse than midichlorians. The highest level of fanboy pandering and Rian Johnson erasure. Rey has a lot of very real things to be angry about - her rough childhood, the deaths of her mentors, loving someone as dense as Ben Solo, having to come to terms with the fact that her parents didn’t love her.

Return to prequel-esque thinking on slavery. Apparently it is not that bad if you sell someone as long as you do it with LOVE.

Making Finn force sensitive is not character development. Its just half assed pandering and additional exposition in a film filled with exposition.

There is some truly awful dialogue in this film. Its shot composition and editing is so sloppy compared to FA or TLJ.

The force in balance means killing everyone on the darkside.

Rose is completely sidelined. She is the only Asian character on screen. She is seemingly replaced with a black woman who has a similar background to Finn and is a scavenger like Rey. Yikes. Why does this feel like an anti-interacial relationship thing.

Said Black women Jarrah talks to Lando, another black character in a bizarre dialogue that vaguely implies all black people are related. I might be really misreading this, but its weird. I would have liked her to talk to Rose instead because female solidarity.

FinnPoe is played up a LOT. But we are also repeatedly reminded they are attracted to women. This does not feel like woke Bisexual culture. This is pandering without making a commitment.

Rey’s worth as a character is related to her connection to powerful people in the Star Wars mythos, not her own traits.

Ben’s character resonates really strongly with abuse victims and outsiders. His lack of dialogue strips him of a lot of his agency. His estrangement from his family is not resolved. Vader, who arguably did a lot worse things gets a whole dying monologue and force ghost thing.

Oh hey C3PO said the festival is every 42 year old….OG came out 42 years ago. heh.

In Summary:

Watch the Clone Wars animated series

Fall in love with Ahsoka

Watch Star Wars Rebels or at least all the episodes with Ahsoka and also the series finale, it's got some cool force stuff in it.

Think about the cool force stuff in Star Wars Rebels and the cool force stuff in The Last Jedi. Woah.

Apply all this cool force stuff to your own personal version of the Rise of Skywalker

Wait for clone wars finale Feb 2020

Rinse and Repeat

Peg Kylo Ren

Oscar Isaac is the Captain on the FinnPoe Ship.

The Last Jedi was the Best One. Fight Me.

Find the fanfiction where Rey tells him what a good boi he is which reduces him to a puddle. Find the fanfiction where he cries during sex the first time, the second time, every time. Find the fanfiction where his force ghost gets a hug, where his family welcomes his back.

Read Fanfiction:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21852886

What I would do instead:

Delete Rey Palpatine

Ditch the mask. You have a fucking Oscar nomiated actor hiding under it.

After the Endor part, have Kylo join either Rey or the Resistance. Personally I think him hitching a ride on the Falcon would have been wonderfully awkward. And maybe give some closure the calling Finn a ‘traitor’ thing. This is fanservice-y, but no more fanservice-y than the rest of the film. And maybe finally answer the question of who does/doesnt know who Kylo Ren is. Would like a verbal declaration that he identifies as Ben Solo or least Ben or something.

Ben can still die I guess but maybe give him some kinda funeral. Or reuse the golden dice symbolism.

Slow everything done. Let the audience feel sad, feel happy. Oh and cut out those fucking death fake outs.

#tros #rambling #reylo #spoilers #rey #Rey of Jakku no last name given #why did i write this #catharthis #ben solo

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childrenofhypnos · 7 years

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Chapter 26: Like Tea

It now felt like days were passing instead of hours.

Ares followed Emery and Wes around for the rest of the day, asking them questions about their professors, the curriculum, what the campus looked like in the spring, and even how well the air conditioning worked when it got hot in the summer. Though he ate almost nothing, he’d seemed to come to a conclusion about the food quality himself (“excellent!”), and stopped random students and staff passing by to ask how they liked living there.

The hairs on Emery’s neck stood on end the entire time, the need to check over her shoulder so fierce it felt like her insides were on fire. It was only the outpouring of Dream pressure from Ares, not a result of any nightmare—or doppelgänger—coming closer to her, but rationality couldn’t pierce the paranoia. It didn’t help that she’d lost her edge around Ares. Anything smart or sarcastic she could’ve said died inside her with the worry that he’d glean some hidden information in it. He was a trained spy and interrogator. He could probably get information from anything she said. Hypnos’s balls, he could probably get information from anything she didn’t say.

Wes didn’t seem as perturbed, but then Wes never seemed perturbed. She couldn’t talk to him with Ares around, so she couldn’t ask what else he knew about his uncle that she didn’t. He must have known Ares worked in Argos, and that was why he hadn’t been thrilled to see Ares in Grandpa Al’s office. But if he had known, why hadn’t he said anything while they were fixing Ares’s room? Or on their way to weapons training? Did he think she wouldn’t give anything away without knowing where Ares was from?

Ares finally left them after dinner—he wanted to supervise some of the student hunter missions, and Wes and Emery weren’t allowed off-campus—and the first thing Emery did while they still sat at their table was pull out her phone and scroll through the texts from Joel and Jacqueline that she’d been ignoring all day.

From Jacqueline: What’s taking so long? I thought there was a rush on this thing—let’s go!

From Joel: operation gateway to heaven is a go, meet in kirk lobby

“Joel found a place we can practice,” Emery said. “We have to meet up in Kirkland.”

“Tonight?”

“If Ares is going to watch students on missions every night, when else would be a good time?”

“What if the mission ends early and he comes back?”

“Then we stop and take care of it.” Emery put her phone down. “Did you know that he was with Argos?”

“I—yeah, I knew, but I—I didn’t know if he was here for that or if he was really just here for the review.”

“Even if he was just here for the review, you didn’t think it would be prudent to tell me your uncle was a spy? And that he might, I don’t know, pick up on something? You cannot get on me for thinking my grandpa’s gonna be cool with knowing about my doppelgänger when you do stuff like this.”

Wes held his hands up and lowered his voice. “I get it. I’m sorry, you’re right.”

Emery narrowed her eyes at him until she felt he’d appropriately submitted. “Is there anything else I need to know about him?”

“He’s a huge softie.”

“Yeah, I got that.”

“He knows how to torture people.”

“Got that too.”

“If he’s here for Klaus, we might be shorter on time than we thought.”

“Then we need to go right now and find Jacqueline and the others.”

As Emery stood from the table, a familiar hum roved up behind her.

“Emery Ashworth, just who I wanted to see.”

A new sort of unease tickled the back of Emery’s neck. She turned slowly to see Lana approaching through the atrium tables.

“You sound serious,” Emery said.

“I am serious.” Lana smiled.

“You’re smiling.”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“You wanted to see me and you’re smiling. Are you going to take out my kidneys or something? Lana. Do you run a black market for dreamhunter organs?”

Emery could practically hear Wes rolling his eyes.

Lana stopped close enough that no one at nearby tables would hear them, and said, “Marcia said you got Klaus to talk. If he’s got a soft spot for you, I need to exploit it.”

“For what? We’re kind of busy.”

“I need to know about this sleeping sand he makes. And I need to give him a little to keep him awake. If you come along, I don’t have to blackmail him into telling me what I want by threatening to withhold his drugs.”

“That’s dark,” Wes grunted.

“So you agree,” Lana said. “Wonderful. I’ll only need Emery for this one, Wes, I’m sorry. Though I do encourage you to try to break into my labs again and see who comes running this time.”

Wes stared at his plate, eyes wide.

“I’ll meet you back in Kirkland,” Emery said, and followed Lana out of the cafeteria.

This time, Emery entered the Fenhallow Underground without any sneaking around. She followed Lana into the elevator in the administration building, then through the bowels of the Underground. It was still empty, and as they passed through the main hub with the many hallways branching off, Emery said, “Is this place always so dead?”

“There are other entrances,” Lana said, “and many other sections that are fully staffed. Still, that may only mean two or three people in an area at a time, so yes, it’s usually fairly empty.

The staircases they had to descend to get to the cells had a track on either side that clamped onto the wheels of Lana’s chair and carried her to the bottom. Emery followed behind, and when they entered the hallway of cells, they found a new guard at the door, one of the full-time dreamhunters. He frowned at them.

“I don’t think she’s supposed to be down here,” he said, nodding at Emery.

“Calm down, Luke, she’s for leverage. There are cameras, they’re going to know she’s with me.” Lana waved him off. He stepped to the side and let them into the door.

The lights came up inside the cell. Klaus was slumped in the corner, one knee pulled up to his chest, hands limp on the ground, skin covered in sweat and his eyes glazed over. He looked even more thin and gaunt than before, like someone had started vacuuming out his insides, but stopped halfway through. His breathing was fast and shallow.

Lana paused at the door. Emery had never seen Lana shocked before, but she was now, and she hurried to pull an eyedropper of lavender liquid from a small box she’d been holding on her lap. She hurried to the Plexiglas wall, to where a tray had been installed to pass food and objects to the other side without opening the door. She pulled the tray out and held the eyedropper up.

“Klaus,” she said, firmly. His head didn’t move, but his eye turned upward, as if pulled to her face by a magnet. “You need this. We found it with your things. There’s only enough for three drops in each eye, so use it carefully.”

She put the eyedropper in the tray and slammed the tray back through the wall.

In the blink of an eye, Klaus was on his feet, fingers scrabbling against the metal for the eyedropper. His pupils were dilated, his cheeks and neck flushed. The hand holding the dropper shook so badly he had to cup his other hand around the tip, as if hoping to catch any liquid that leaked out. He tilted his head back, pulled down his right eyelid, and calmed the quaking of his limbs enough to squeeze the dropper above it. When the first drop hit his eye, he sighed and stood very very still for a long moment. He did the next two drops, then switched eyes and did the last three.

Afterward, he collapsed next to the empty bedframe. He still looked gaunt, but not quite so lifeless.

Had it been the three years on the run that had done this to him? Or the sleeplessness? Or the sand—the liquid—whatever it was he’d made to keep himself awake? Maybe it was some combination of all three. Emery pitied him. She didn’t want to, but there it was: regardless of whether he was telling them the truth, he didn’t deserve this. No one did. And instead of at least easing some of the pain, the Ward was letting him go into withdrawal and holding his drugs for leverage.

“You’re going to answer some questions for me, Klaus,” Lana said. “The more you answer, the sooner we’ll give you more of that stuff. The less you answer, the longer we’ll keep it away.”

Klaus let his head fall back as he looked up at them. His expression was smooth for a moment until his eyes focused, and then it crumpled in.

"Lana? Lana--what happened?"

Lana paused looking unsure, then seemed to register the question. "Oh--oh, I forgot, you weren't around." She patted the arm of her chair. "Doppelgänger. You think you have them pinned and then whoom--severed spinal cord. They don't normally hurt their hunters. I think she knew it was the end. Had a couple surgeries, doctors are still looking into options."

"They could dreamform you something."

"Fixing or replacing a spine with dreamforms is almost as difficult as fixing or replacing a brain. And I’d want to do it myself—I’m not having someone build me a new spine just to have it disappear when they die. But I don’t have the time, with all my research piled up like it is. Surgery and therapy will do for now.” Lana sighed, and smiled. “Still, I killed her. Killed her dead.”

Klaus smiled back. It filled out his face a little more, brightened his eyes. “Lana the Dreamkiller. What questions did you want to ask me?”

“You’ve been the one trying to break into my labs, yes?”

“Not trying,” Klaus said cheerfully, “I have broken in.”

Lana’s smile went rigid.

"Your alarm system is good, though; even I couldn't avoid tripping it a few times."

"It's a Van Der Gelt," Lana said. "We've found over half a pound of fine-grain, high-grade sand missing since your spree started. Half a pound, Klaus. That's enough to put a herd of elephants to sleep for a week. You can't be shocked that the Ward went after you. Dump that into the ventilation system of city hall and it'd be considered a terrorist attack. What were you possibly doing with it?"

Klaus motioned to Emery. "Are you okay discussing this in front of the students? I thought the Ward didn't want them to know about all the dirty parts of dreamhunting."

"I can handle it--" Emery started.

Lana held up a hand. "Enough with the jabs at the Ward. Why did you take the sand?"

Klaus sighed and grabbed the edge of the bedframe behind him. Pushing himself up seemed like an arduous endeavor; his arms still shook slightly, and when he finally got his feet beneath himself, he stood as if his bones were toothpicks. He approached the Plexiglas and leaned heavily against it, resting his temple near one of the small circular holes cut into it.

"I needed it for what you just gave to me. I needed sand to make it. I could have gotten the sand myself, but I didn't want to risk the dreamers by skinning their dreams, so I thought I'd skim it off a source that retrieved it with all the proper safety measures."

"You want to tell me how you altered the composition of sleeping sand to keep you reliably awake for so long?"

"You sound surprised. I thought you'd have figured it out by now."

"Humor me."

Klaus scratched at his scruff. "I'd rather not say, actually."

Lana just stared at him. She held up the empty eyedropper.

Klaus's expression turned wary. He said, "I steeped it. Like tea."

"Steeped it…in what?" Lana frowned. "Water? That does nothing. We both know this."

"Not water. Well, not water from the waking world. You've seen the lake, haven't you?"

"The lake. In No Man's Land? The Waking Lake?"

"Yes."

Emery looked between the two of them, nonplussed. "Are you talking about the lake in the Dream? Beneath that big snowcapped mountain?"

"That one," Klaus said. Then, when he noticed Emery's confusion, said, "They haven't taught you about that, have they? There's a reason that lake is the only body of water in the No Man's Land of the Dream. The No Man's Land represents the subconsciouses of all the people currently alive on Earth. That lake, then, is the conscious minds of all of humanity. The more people living on the planet, the bigger the lake gets. You sat there for a while when you were in the Dream, didn't you? It felt more peaceful than the rest of the Dream, right? Felt a little safer? The windows didn't come as close."

"Yeah, I guess."

"A lot of hunters who stumble into the Dream are too weary to notice by the time they reach it, if they ever do." Klaus looked back to Lana. "It was a simple equation. Waking Lake water keeps you safe from that digging at your mind that the Dream does--how it tries to get at your memories, to shove you so deep into your own subconscious you can't get out. Sleeping sand is purely a product of dreams and nightmares. When you soak it in water from the Waking Lake, the water absorbs those properties of the dream or nightmare, but cancels out that clawing effect that puts you to sleep. It clears your mind. Keeps you mentally springy. Like a dreamkiller; no sleep required. And that’s where I got the name: sleeping sand, waking water. Good, right?”

Lana rubbed her temple so hard it looked like she was trying to dig her brain out.

“Trust me, it took a lot of experimenting to figure out the right amount of water for the dose of sand. The two have to balance each other. Take too much pure water outside the Dream and you have visions like some kind of oracle."

Lana carefully tucked both sides of her hair behind her ears, breathing deep, gathering herself. "Klaus. Please tell me you didn't drink the water of the Waking Lake."

Emery froze. "Wes and I drank it," she blurted out. "When we were there--we'd been in the Dream for so long, we drank some of it. Is that bad? We didn't know."

Klaus shook his head. "You'll be fine. You'd been heavily battered by the Dream's influence before that, and you didn't gorge yourself. You had enough to get back to the right mental state." Then, to Lana: "Of course I didn't drink it, not unless I was already in the Dream. I put it in my eyes. But yes--sometimes we have to make do with the test subjects we have on hand."

Lana said nothing for several long moments, apparently lost in thought. In her silence, Klaus looked at Emery again and smiled. She expected a vapid, drug-haze smile, but he seemed lucid. Lucid, malnourished, and still in desperate need of a real shower.

"So the sand really was just for you, for the waking water,“ Emery said, "And that's why the State was after you? Because they thought you were going to use the sand to do something terrible."

"Yes, exactly," Klaus said, shaking his head no. Lana still hadn't looked up.

Lana didn't know. Lana wasn't supposed to know. Klaus held up his right hand. Blood was caked beneath the nail of his index finger, and the nail itself had turned purple and looked in the process of falling off. The shock of seeing it threw Emery off; it took her a moment too long to realize it was the result of torture.

Ares Montgomery had already been down here. He had already come to see Klaus, but judging by Klaus's calmness, he hadn't found anything out.

Yet.

(Next time on The Children of Hypnos —> Horror Movie Tropes!)

#children of hypnos #nightmare hunters #francesca zappia #made you up #eliza and her monsters #free #stories #books #ya #yalit #ya books #reading #dreams #nightmares

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