Firefly River vs. Serenity River : fanfic portrayal

POSTED BY: EmpireX
UPDATED: Thursday, March 8, 2007 02:01
VIEWED: 30380
PAGE 10 of 10

Quote:

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Originally posted by Platonist:
The problem that I have with M/R or M/OC is that the writer has the laborious task of deconstucting the relationship between Mal and Inara in a convincing manner. This is not an easy writing objective to meet. It is usually achieved by writing Inara (post BDM) as a calculating sinister character, in a contrived plot, breaking Mal's heart at every turn and task.

In these fics, especially M/R, Mal tends to act like a fickle jilted 16 year old that has lost his intended prom date to his best friend. Last I looked Mal doesn't play jacks on the hull floor.

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LOL! I totally agree, Platonist. Now I don't object to Inara/Other (mainly because of her job - that's just something we have to accept as an audience) and I don't object to Mal/Other, either - but let's take a look at the show.

In both instances where Mal embarks on a sexual relationship (with Saffron and with Nandi), it is not about love. It's about lust and it's about comfort. On the show, Mal and Inara aren't "together", but it seems to me, it takes an awful lot of "persuasion" to get him in the sack. Saffron had to strip naked and pretty much ambush him and Nandi most definitely persued him, employing her fine rice wine and powers of seduction. Now why would two beautiful women have to go to such lengths to bed an unattached heterosexual man? Simple. IT'S BECAUSE HE'S IN LOVE WITH INARA. You can't just dismiss it. And you can't just turn Inara into a nasty little harpy or send her away as a means of "dealing with it". Doesn't matter if she's on the ship or not. She's on his mind and in his heart, as the movie makes perfectly clear. So I can see Mal sleeping with another woman, but falling in love out of the clear blue when he's carried such a torch for Inara for so long? Don't buy it.

And as for Mal/River, yeah. A lot of the Mal/River fic that I've attempted to read has Mal acting really immature, but then again, River usually acts like a child in them, so I guess that makes a kind of sense... But the only way for Mal/River to work is if Inara is dead or gone, River is cured of her craziness, and is portrayed like an adult. AN ADULT. That's the key. I'll say it again: not flitting around like a whimsical pixie giggling and meddling. Cuz Mal's not going to bed a crazy teenager. I don't care how awesome her powers of perception are or how hot and limber she is. Mal's better than that. He's a man of honor, which is why we all love him, right? ... Which was the entire point of my original post...which I realize has gotten WAY off topic! LOL

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