lj-writes:

I can’t add comments to @the-bi-writer‘s There Is No Redemption Here for whatever reason and asks are too short to contain my magnificent prose, so I’ll just put them here. This is for Chapter 6 (link):

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Seeing how the description of Alia Ren in the last chapter scuttled my Keri Russell fancast I hurriedly replaced her with Naomi Ackie even though she’s probably too young to be a canon KoR. And then! This line:

“You have a weapon,” she hisses, responding to his thoughts.

reminded me of an amoral Maz, which in turn reminded me of Lupita Nyong’o, and that fancast upped the hotness factor of the battle SO MUCH that I’m tempted to change ships midstream 😂 So if this was not the image you had in your head while writing, I gift it to you in thanks for a great scene.

Anyway this duel was so neat!! I loved the decisive and deadly moves, the way the Force interacted with the combat movements, and even the ending with Lupita… er, Alia turning off her sabers midair. Her recruitment tactics are a bit sudden, but effective! Idk how much of a choice it really is, since Alia herself said it wasn’t optional, but I guess it’s more choice than Finn was ever offered before.

Continued for Chapter 7 of @the-bi-writer‘s There Is No Redemption Here, I’ll just go into stream of consciousness/liveblog from here. Spoilers, of course.

He shivers at the thought of [Alia Ren]

So did I, man, because TO ME SHE’S LUPITA NOW THIS WAS A MISTAKE

She clearly means to use him as a pawn in whatever game the Knights are
playing, but that didn’t mean that he, Finn, can get nothing out of
this.

I like how canny and shrewd Finn is here. He clearly knows the FO’s shenanigans all too well–he’s lived here all his life, after all!–and is adapting quickly to being swept into one of the Knights’ games.

He grabs a ration bar and a piece of fruit from the cafeteria – Rey
mentioned yesterday that she had rarely eaten fruit in her life, and
he’s been itching to bring her some

But he’s still so sweeeeeet *melts*

Finn strides to the bed, checks all her readings, and taps out
a quick note on the datapad. He leaves it on her bedside table, along
with the tangerine, so that the first thing she’ll see when she wakes up
is a delicious new fruit and a note from him.

Dude knows how to woo a lady, eh? I mean I know that’s not quite appropriate, she’s wounded and effectively a prisoner, and I know Finn would never take advantage of that. He’s just being nice! I look forward to their courtship beginning in earnest once Rey is back on her feet and has her bearings.

Her skin is light brown and her her eyes are dark and intense.

NOOOO MY LUPITA FANCAST um, maybe Nalini Krishan? I can imagine her as evil Barriss Offee 😂

“Your stance is weak and your strike patterns are predictable, but
that’s easily fixed. You just might be worth my time to train.”

Is faint praise a required skill for the FO leadership?

“You will guard the girl in the medbay for the rest of the day, and you will tell  no one  about this.”

“You’re no longer one of  [the Stormtroopers]. I approved the transfer with Phasma this morning.“

So what’s the part that Finn isn’t supposed to tell, again? There’s no hiding that he’s guarding Rey in medbay, and his transfer is made formal now. Is it the lightsaber training he’s supposed to keep secret? The fact that he’s guarding Rey on Alia’s orders? That he’s receiving lightsaber training? But he’s already been taking out of the Stormtrooper ranks and formally with the Knights. Wouldn’t the training and the fact he’s acting on Alia’s orders be rather obvious?

“The hood’s deep enough to hide your face,” she continues, “and I expect
you to wear it in public at all times. In private, however, use your
discretion.“

I thought the Knights were masked? Or is that reserved for full Knights?

“It suits you.”

THAT’S NOT YOUR LINE LADY

She’s awake and sitting up, and smiles at him like the sun. “Hey handsome.“

Holy shit, Rey calling him “handsome” the last time wasn’t just the painkillers? (Or maybe she’s still on them, but she doesn’t seem nearly as knackered out as last time.) Attagirl, openly flirting in medbay. Finn has already done much to earn her trust–which is why Alia gave him this assignment, she watched the whole thing–and Rey still doesn’t know what the fuck is going on. It’s a good idea to make a friend and ally under these circumstances, and it doesn’t hurt if he’s cute as hell.

“You’re a guest of head of the Knights of Ren.”

An empty head, but head nevertheless. I think this line is missing “the” in front of “head.”

“I’m fairly sure you could request a pet bantha and they’d find a way to get you one.”

That’s Ben, the doting elder brother.

“He sits beside her on the bed, careful to leave a little space between them.

A gentleman, what did I tell you!

She hands him the datapad and their fingers brush, which makes his stomach do a funny little flip-flop.

Me:

He finds the meal app

The First Order–they have an app for that!

She  inhales the food

Thanks for doing that to my heart, ya wanker.

The doctor’s eyes go wide when she sees Finn, and she immediately
drops to one knee. “Sir Knight,” she says, eyes cast to the ground.
“Doctor Noble, head of Starkiller Medbay, at your service.”

Finn’s eyebrows shoot past his hairline. Why was Doctor Noble…? Oh. Oh. He’s dressed like a Knight of Ren, because, well, he is a Knight of Ren now. Or an apprentice to a Knight, but that seems to count.

Huh, the KoR are due a lot of deference here, it seems. We don’t see personnel kneeling to Kylo Ren in the movies, but I can understand this as a formal “introduction” situation as opposed to an operational one.

Dr. Noble is interesting–she seems to be a good doctor doing her job, and she’s done much to mentor Finn, but she works on a freaking weapon of mass destruction. Not to mention she is likely directly complicit in the FO’s crimes and breaches of medical ethics, which are probably numerous. I guess she’s a good case of compartmentalization, and how evil institutions work on a day-to-day basis.

“Good work, doctor. I’ll…” he tries to think of how a knight might
talk, what they might say. “I’ll report back to Lady Alia that the girl
is in most capable hands.”

Doctor Noble breathes out a sigh of relief, and lets her hands relax again at her sides. “Thank you,” she breathes.

Yeah, Noble is working under a lot of fear, too. It’s how the FO works. That doesn’t excuse her collaboration, of course.