Mal - 'Readers' - nbz - thread move.

POSTED BY: wytchcroft
UPDATED: Saturday, September 15, 2007 21:59
VIEWED: 3841
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WYTCHCROFT

Thursday, September 6, 2007 10:30 PM

Originally posted by nbz:
Another question about Mal.

He knew that River was a reader. How? Why? The options seem to be:

1. He has met a (probably natural, and not as developed) reader before, so knows about it. (think of the pain the reader would feel in a war setting - I doubt any "reader" would be of much use here.).
2. He has not met a reader, but has heard stories.
3. It came to him of his own notion.

I would probably go for number 2, but 1 also seems a possibility (but then you can get into the game of Mal having been witness to almost everything that has ever happened...)

wytch; Apologies for thread move - my comp' kept seizing up with the size of the other thread!

WYTCHCROFT

Thursday, September 6, 2007 10:38 PM

i think... all three.

I agree that Mal seemed certain and VERY early on that River was a 'reader' - his phrase - and first to use it.

i think he felt that immeadiately with her - a touch of fey -
but his instincts could well be backed up by experience -
readers may not be unheard of in rim backwaters.
Maybe they were used in the war - but - ouch, could be nasty - my guess, they would be used for interrogation...
i can imagine a buncha browncoats stringing up an unfortunate... after being ambushed.
How did they know we were coming?
they musta hadda 'reader', gorram it!...

NCBROWNCOAT

Friday, September 7, 2007 12:38 AM

Most likely 2 and 3.

Mal, like most good leaders, has "people smarts". He's able to size up people quickly and it wouldn't take him long to see that River "sees the truth of things".

Also, growing up on a rural, farming planet there were likely people either revered or shunned for their ability to "read" others or the future.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

JETFLAIR

Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:42 AM

This may be a little out there for some, but since we're throwing around notions....

I think Mal could be a tiny bit of a reader himself. Is he psychic? No. But he has an uncanny way of instantly and often accurately reading people. It's good people sense, yes...very, very good.

It crosses into the level of being an intuitive ability, and while I don't propose that he had some all-seeing way of reading exactly what River was, I think he had a very strong notion in his head that perhaps didn't rely on prior experience. Or, he could have met someone with similar abilities in the past. Either is plausible to me.

"Love keeps her in the air...."

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WYTCHCROFT

Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:50 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jetflair:
This may be a little out there for some, but since we're throwing around notions....

I think Mal could be a tiny bit of a reader himself. Is he psychic? No. But he has an uncanny way of instantly and often accurately reading people. It's good people sense, yes...very, very good.

It crosses into the level of being an intuitive ability, and while I don't propose that he had some all-seeing way of reading exactly what River was, I think he had a very strong notion in his head that perhaps didn't rely on prior experience. Or, he could have met someone with similar abilities in the past. Either is plausible to me.

"Love keeps her in the air...."

www.serenityverse.com/fffanfic - My fanfics
www.serenityverse.com/shop - Firefly Jewelry

he is eerily 'spot on' in his instincts / judgements at times - but also hilariously wrong sometimes!
Yo/Saff/bridge is but the most obvious example - he got the mole wrong in the pilot too.

NBZ

Saturday, September 15, 2007 9:59 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by jetflair:
This may be a little out there for some, but since we're throwing around notions....

I think Mal could be a tiny bit of a reader himself. Is he psychic? No. But he has an uncanny way of instantly and often accurately reading people. It's good people sense, yes...very, very good.

Interesting notion. I don't really buy into him being even a slight reader though (mainly because it is easy to give him too many abilities.).

Something as sort of corroborative (or "opposite of" if you will) - Jubal Early. He is supposed to be the Anti-River. Very intuitive. He took care of all the crew logically and efficiently, predicting most of their eractions and playing on them. He may even have a hint of reader ability. listen to the commentary by Joss. He sort of does not go there, but sort of leaves a door open by not defining everything.

But Mal surprises Jubal. Not once, but twice. (and did River know he would? after all why get Mal to do the big pushing? In the whole series to that point they had what? one conversation? half?)

So maybe the anti-Reader? But in a draft of Serenity, River clearly does read him... but this whole thing leaves a lot of questions.

Quote:
It crosses into the level of being an intuitive ability, and while I don't propose that he had some all-seeing way of reading exactly what River was, I think he had a very strong notion in his head that perhaps didn't rely on prior experience. Or, he could have met someone with similar abilities in the past. Either is plausible to me.

I think it is mostly because he is so sure of himself. A slight cockiness. (In Serenity the Pilot Mal does not offload the goods to Badger because he does act all big at the start of that very exchange. "You're late" "You're lying".)

Of course when that cockiness fails him, it leaves a lot to laugh at. IMO.