The Companions Guild - hurrah!!

POSTED BY: AgentRouka
UPDATED: Thursday, March 15, 2007 02:35
VIEWED: 13767
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Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
They are secretive to protect themselves from competition and to generate an aura of mystique...which increases the value of a companion.

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I think you're making an assumption here. That there are certain elements of the Geisha that can be compared to Companions is certain, however there is no evidence that their houses are run in the same manner. We don't even know if there is more than one house per planet, to be honest... House Madrassa was on Sihnon, and there were 40 women there (according to Nandi in HoG) but there has been no mention of any other houses on Sihnon. One can assume there may be more, but there's also the possibility that Companions are so exclusive, there may only be one house per core planet. I'm not saying there couldn't be more, all I'm pointing out is that we can't just assume that the Guild is modelled solely on Geisha's.

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Yo had companion training...Inara was AMAZED at how well she was trianed. So that means 1. pleasure (the obvious), 2. entertainment (tea ceremony, balls, social events), 3. use of chemicals and poisons, 4. observation of people and events, 5. sociology and psychology, 6. manipulation of individuals, and 7. political intruige are ALL part of companion training.

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Inara said that Saffron had had training, as in Companion, as in Academy, specifically, body language, and signals... but she did NOT say that Saffron WAS a Companion, so to ascribe everything Saffron does and/or is capable of to Companion Training is an assumption... that's not to say that Companions don't learn all those things, i'm sure they do, but it's not a given based on Inara's comments about Saffron...

Anyway, not trying to be snarky, but just wanted to point out that you're making a couple of assumptions that don't really have supportive evidence in the show...

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Of course I am making assumptions. Some evil bastards at Fox took care of us finding out the real "what for". (assholes)

But I did not say it was SOLELY based on Geisha training, but it is obviously an inspiration and contains many elements...including the tea ceremony and training houses.

I also did not claim there was one house per planet or any such thing. What I meant by "protecting themselves from competition" was that ANY woman can spread her legs for money if you get right down to it. So by creating a group of women who have more than just a convenient oriface raises their worth and value, and makes them a disirable entity that people are willing to pay good credits for.

As for YoSaf...for her to have companion training to such a quality that Inara would recognize it as being superior OUTSIDE the guild system is possible, but it is highly unlikely.

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Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
Of course I am making assumptions. Some evil bastards at Fox took care of us finding out the real "what for". (assholes)

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LOL! Indeed :o)

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I also did not claim there was one house per planet or any such thing. What I meant by "protecting themselves from competition" was that ANY woman can spread her legs for money if you get right down to it. So by creating a group of women who have more than just a convenient oriface raises their worth and value, and makes them a disirable entity that people are willing to pay good credits for.

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no, I wasn't implying that you had claimed that, just making an observation :o)

I just don't really see the 'common whore' as competition for the Guild, for the very reasons you state... They're catering to an entirely differnt clientele, so I misunderstood and thought you meant the different training houses were in competition with each other - they could be, but I get a more 'sisterhood' feeling from the Guild than a 'lets be in competition with each other' feeling, but then, it's just that, my feelings... I'm sure I read/heard/saw something that put that in my head, but I'm not sure what it is at this moment.

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As for YoSaf...for her to have companion training to such a quality that Inara would recognize it as being superior OUTSIDE the guild system is possible, but it is highly unlikely.

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oh, that's not what I meant at all. I think she definately did have Companion training from within the Guild, Inara says as much really, I just meant that, the fact that Saffron uses her poison lipstick, for example, doesn't necessarily tie into the Guild because Inara has her little black vial - there's been discussion further up on this thread about whether or not that vial even came from the Guild or not, actually :o) - and Simon made mention of Johns showing up at the hospital, after being robbed by the 'Goodnight Kiss', which implies that this was something used by prostitutes as opposed to Companions... I was merely saying that just because Saffron has had Companion training didn't mean that all her cunning, manipulation, and intrigue came as a direct result of that...

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While I have made mention of my feelings before in another Inara-related thread, I think I will regurgitate and add to them here

As a theoretical idea, I am completely and 100% behind the idea of a guild of empowered, educated and independent women using their entire selves to bring comfort and clarity to those who are in need.

Does that mean the Guild is completely good? Nope...and neither does it make the Guild completely evil and manipulative. By the time of the pilot episode, the Companion's Guild is an established and influential organization with an elite cadre of visible "agents" or representatives to serve its will and/or mission statement. Just as the Alliance itself in benevolent, the Guild is a good thing; it’s those who serve as the eyes, ears and limbs of the greater organization that are dangerous.

For example, YoSaffBridge is someone who – according to Inara’s presumably experienced observations – is someone with advanced training that comes from either the Guild itself (making our favourite redheaded con-woman a rogue or former Companion/Companion trainee) or from someone intimately familiar with the Guild’s training curriculum who taught YoSaffBridge how to work her wiles properly. The Guild itself would legally be responsible for only keeping an eye on her so she can’t make with the mischief, not for providing training to either YoSaffBridge or her trainer in the first place. The Guild is not evil here, just lacking the best judge of character

Another recognized sticking issue is the mysterious reason(s) for Inara to leave her position as one of the top Companions – if the top Companion – at House Madrassa on Sihnon and rent a shuttle from an ex-Independent soldier. Based on all the canonical dialogue and scenes with Inara in them from the series, comics and BDM, we are given the impression that Inara can not and will not let an injustice go unrecorded or unpunished; this gives rise to the highly plausible – if still circumstantial – observation that whatever drove Inara to become a roving agent of the Guild was not someone insidious about the Guild itself. Personally, I would question this assertion, if only to stimulate debate about just how far Inara is willing to go for the greater good, since we have no idea about how the Guild deals with disciplinary issues involving clients and Companions other than stuff like what Atherton Wing pulled in Shindig earns a person a Black Mark in the Guild’s client registry of past and present clientele (cuz what good would such a punishment do if the offender’s file was pulled completely), and that a Companion severing ties to the Guild (like Nandi presumably did) earns the person a mark of shame and a Guild-wide proclamation of being off-limits to all Guild members. Inara could have fallen afoul of some Guild rule or faction that caused Inara to leave Sihnon but still bind her to the Guild for one reason or another. As someone pointed out already, the cost of training a Companion is presumably quite exorbitant, so the Guild could have decided that Inara needed a lesson but was still “salvageable.” Certainly another reason on top of her lessons for Inara to avoid developing something with Mal

BlueEyedBrigadier


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Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
If you have ever read any history books about the Geisha, the Companion's Guild would make perfect sense to you.



Yo had companion training...Inara was AMAZED at how well she was trianed. So that means 1. pleasure (the obvious), 2. entertainment (tea ceremony, balls, social events), 3. use of chemicals and poisons, 4. observation of people and events, 5. sociology and psychology, 6. manipulation of individuals, and 7. political intruige are ALL part of companion training. It is my personal suspicion that they may also be trained assassins...but trained to be VERY stealthy and subtle so no suspicion could be cast on the companion guild. A very small percentage of companions would actually receive this very high level training.

It does seem to be modeled a touch on the geisha system of historic japan, as well as a bit of Dune's Bene Gesserit training thrown in for fun.

B]

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Hmm. I was hoping to get my next fic punted out before someone jumped all over that. Damn. This goes back to a point I made about possible reasons for River. See, I think the Guild has an executive arm, in addition to its regular activities.

BTW, Joss may well mess with your heads. Why should a large group of women necessarily be good just because of their gender? That's as stereotypical in its own way.

Glad someone else gets the BG vibe. Mind you, I was watching 'House of Flying Daggers' and twitching, too.

I'm just waiting for the Inara-fic that rips off 'Memoirs of a Geisha'.

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Originally posted by BlueEyedBrigadier:

Another recognized sticking issue is the mysterious reason(s) for Inara to leave her position as one of the top Companions – if the top Companion – at House Madrassa on Sihnon and rent a shuttle from an ex-Independent soldier. Based on all the canonical dialogue and scenes with Inara in them from the series, comics and BDM, we are given the impression that Inara can not and will not let an injustice go unrecorded or unpunished; this gives rise to the highly plausible – if still circumstantial – observation that whatever drove Inara to become a roving agent of the Guild was not someone insidious about the Guild itself.

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Also aided by the way Inara keeps talking about the Guild. There is no hint of resentment but rather pride and loyalty save for the one very understandable moment of cursing with regard to not caring that they told her to shun Nandi.

It's not just the injustice thing, it's also her attitude toward the Guild, so it's not that much more circumtantial that the theory that Mal respects women: demonstrated by different examples of behavior.

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Personally, I would question this assertion, if only to stimulate debate about just how far Inara is willing to go for the greater good,

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In this case I'd like to ask what you mean by "greater good"? Willingly take on an expected Guild punishment for doing something she feels is right? Or something else?

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since we have no idea about how the Guild deals with disciplinary issues involving clients and Companions other than stuff like what Atherton Wing pulled in Shindig earns a person a Black Mark in the Guild’s client registry of past and present clientele (cuz what good would such a punishment do if the offender’s file was pulled completely), and that a Companion severing ties to the Guild (like Nandi presumably did) earns the person a mark of shame and a Guild-wide proclamation of being off-limits to all Guild members.

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For all we know, Nandi might have earned that black mark of shame for the way she left the Guild, rather than for leaving it at all. She destroyed Guild property and essentially threw a tantrum like a five-year-old. And considering where she ends up, she may have indeed been someone whose education the Guild paid for, whereas we really don't know if Companion training isn't based on hefty tuition fees that the students/their parents pay themselves.

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Inara could have fallen afoul of some Guild rule or faction that caused Inara to leave Sihnon but still bind her to the Guild for one reason or another. As someone pointed out already, the cost of training a Companion is presumably quite exorbitant, so the Guild could have decided that Inara needed a lesson but was still “salvageable.” Certainly another reason on top of her lessons for Inara to avoid developing something with Mal

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But there's still the fact that Inara doesn't appear to have any kind of conflict with the Guild at all. If there's some kind of lesson, then Inara seems to accept it without any resentment toward the Guild, implying it's a just punishment. However, Inara does display some conflict about leaving Sihnon, unrelated to the Guild, in the pilot episode.


To me, it more probably points to an outside influence causing her to give up her coveted top spot in order to leave. And by outside outside I mean outside the Guild, either a third party or Inara herself, perhaps out of committment issues.

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Originally posted by UnregisteredCompanion:
I also did not claim there was one house per planet or any such thing. What I meant by "protecting themselves from competition" was that ANY woman can spread her legs for money if you get right down to it.

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Not trying to be snarky here, but so can any man. I know it's not your intention to say otherwise, but it's only fair to offer both sides of the equation.

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Originally posted by AgentRouka:

Also aided by the way Inara keeps talking about the Guild. There is no hint of resentment but rather pride and loyalty save for the one very understandable moment of cursing with regard to not caring that they told her to shun Nandi.

It's not just the injustice thing, it's also her attitude toward the Guild, so it's not that much more circumstantial that the theory that Mal respects women: demonstrated by different examples of behaviour.

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And therein lies the rub: one can dislike one's employer and/or organization on a personal level and yet still sell said group's virtues to the greater public with nary a flinch. I know had to for 3 years when I worked for my university's residence-centred student government as a investigator and security officer, when I disliked both how the organization was being run by the then-current exec and some of the exec themselves. Still spent hours defending said exec, their governing choices, and the organization with dedicated fervour; I might have been less than perfect at doing so...but I didn't have Inara's training in patience, deportment and debate skills to fall back on

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In this case I'd like to ask what you mean by "greater good?" Willingly take on an expected Guild punishment for doing something she feels is right? Or something else?

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Well...when I say ‘greater good,’ I mean taking on a punishment/note of censure/‘lesson’ from the Guild to preserve said organization’s status or welfare as an influential force. Inara strikes me as someone who will do what she perceives is “right” after considering the consequences of her actions. This is both strength and a weakness, since it allows for a clear conscience…but also opens the door to Inara being manipulated. All it could possibly take is one person presenting Inara with seemingly solid proof that unless she accepts responsibility for some action taken, that the Guild will be affected negatively.

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For all we know, Nandi might have earned that black mark of shame for the way she left the Guild, rather than for leaving it at all. She destroyed Guild property and essentially threw a tantrum like a five-year-old. And considering where she ends up, she may have indeed been someone whose education the Guild paid for, whereas we really don't know if Companion training isn't based on hefty tuition fees that the students/their parents pay themselves.

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Quite true, though I was under the assumption that it was not until recently (in ‘Verse chronology, I mean) that the Guild had begun training young men and women from non-Core planets and moons to be Companions (this assumption based on Inara’s conversation to Sheydra in the BDM about the quality of her students compared to the established standards used to judge both women as worthy trainees). Also, I would like to argue that Nandi’s eventual place of residence being a Rim world or moon (kind of fuzzy as to which it was) indicating her background is rather narrow in focus; regardless of how the mark of shame and/or exile came about, I highly doubt that Nandi could do anything on a Core planet or moon because of her persona non grata status. Moving out to the Rim to where the Guild and the Alliance have reduced influence? Seems like the only option left to her to gain anything resembling a life of her choosing, since I can’t imagine too many of her friends or family welcoming her back to some place like Sihnon or Osiris or Ariel after parting ways with the Guild in a rather explosive manner.

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But there's still the fact that Inara doesn't appear to have any kind of conflict with the Guild at all. If there's some kind of lesson, then Inara seems to accept it without any resentment toward the Guild, implying it's a just punishment. However, Inara does display some conflict about leaving Sihnon, unrelated to the Guild, in the pilot episode.

To me, it more probably points to an outside influence causing her to give up her

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