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Originally posted by christhecynic:

I think you've really just hit upon one of the strengths of the character. Nathan Fillion says as much in the DVD commentary on the episode Serenity.

Summer plays a character where you just want to gather her up in your arms and comfort her. Every fiber of your being is begging you to help her.

People bring up the fact she can kick your ass, but that doesn't matter, from the first time you see her on screen you want to help this girl, from back in the episode when she shied from the sight of a gun if you were lucky enough to see the first episode first, from when she jumped of an Infirmary table if, like me, you caught it on Fox.

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Why I love River most is a different reason all together. I understand her, in fact I see myself in her. (Does that make me a narcissist?)

I will never have her genius, nor her trauma (I hope), but I know somehow that that person, in spite of being a girl (I'm male) and having abilities I will never even understand and pain I'm glad I can't comprehend, is me. She is fragmented, she is fractured and for some reason that makes me love her.

I always found it interesting that any serious online quiz (the non-serious ones too) said I was River if they said who you are, and said she was my perfect girl if they said who you should date. (Again, does that make me a narcissist?)

She’s someone who I can understand and she’s got the one thing perfection lacks, flaws. I’m drawn to that.

I totally failed to explain myself, but I think the first part of the post came out ok.

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Originally posted by SameErtia:

Maybe that's WHY I'm just a little afraid of River. I've been in too many really broken relationships to dare to try to fix her. Cradle her, comfort her, yes. Love her with every fiber of my being? No. Too much risk there.

Healing in relationships is great, but the growth must come from both sides. You can't fix someone who isn't ready to heal, no matter how much you want to.

*Oops, sorry. That was my inner Troi coming out. I'll try to control that!*

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I would simply Love her for no greater reason than that I were unable not to.

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Originally posted by Smaug:

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I would simply Love her for no greater reason than that I were unable not to.

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This is something that I believe fuels many a fantasy or daydream.. but few people truely understand. For to truly feel it one must be hardwired within as if you are simply born to feel this way. And no words can ever truely make another see... who isn't hardwired as well.

Asarian.. what does your russian tagline mean? Something about laughter and hens????

Smaug..

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Originally posted by asarian:
And yes, the Russian is, of course, the "Eta kuram na s---

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Originally posted by FreelancePilot:
In my constant searching for the workings of my mind (can you tell i like psychology?) I was trying to think of why River is my favorite character in the show/movie. Why is it that I love her so much.


Is it that difficult? Really is it? Yes, there are layers and layers of psycho-history that we mus....River's butt! Jesus! Nice butt. And legs, genius. Actually that whole area actually, and, er, above it....

You know, I'm an intellectual and don't consider myself anything like Jayne, but him and I share our intimate attraction for the female sex in that we ask "is she cute?" before we want to...
"go to congress with her", to change a Firefly phrase.

You see, Inara has the grace and dignity in a woman that suggests a singleness of character and a particular way of being that...no, no, it's just her pretty B cup boobies and a face you could just grab and...ahem. Anyway. Yep, that's pretty much why I want to hump her. and River. And Kaylee. Preferably all at once.

Yes, it's all so mysterious. Cue the 50's sci-fi music, it's a wonder we're all attracted. Joss picks four of the best looking women in the Northern Hemisphere and you're wondering why you're attracted? I remember my girlfriend asking "What attracts men to Pamela Anderson? She's so trashy!" Friggin' WHAT? Because it's PAMELA ANDERSON. And she's TRASHY! That's why! "But she's so slutty!" Quit trying to sell her already, I'm sold!

She also has problems with River, come to think about it. "I understand Summer. But River? She's so crazy!" Crazy girls will do ANYthing, sweetie.

And, as the French say when they're caught in bed with someone strange, "there are some things even a mistress won't do". But crazy girls will.

Quit playing like it's a mystery! Me and Jayne'll tell you, it ain't no mystery Freelance. Don't get me wrong, Catholic guilt enhances sex in exquisite ways, but one mystery is not why you want River Tam.


"If you point out that human progress, as I have defined it, involves the practical enslavement of two-thirds of the human race, my answer is that I can't help it. If you point out that a slave always runs the risk of being oppressed by a particularly cruel master, I answer that a master always runs the risk of having his brains knocked out by a particularly enterprising slave" -HL Mencken

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Originally posted by Rhyianan:

Wow, leave it to modern society to equate "love" with "lust."

I too love River as a character...you can't help but want to comfort her and protect her (at least until you see the BDM and realize she can do a good enough job of that herself). She has gone through hell and come back broken, but she still has the strength and will to try to get through that.

There is nothing sexual about that, it's just a psychological urge to soothe someone's pain.

Let's all cheer for the psychotic psychic

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Originally posted by ChrisMoorhead:

... Then she'd kick everyone's ass except for mine, cause' sometimes bitches just gotta be put down.

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Originally posted by DonCoat:

Asarian, do you speak Russian? Are you fluent enough to know how that phrase ("That's for chickens to laugh at") would be used? Can you give an example?

We've had some discussions/speculation about this topic, but I don't think we ever got a definitive answer. If you can nail it down, you'd be a minor damn hero your own self.

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Originally posted by asarian:

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Originally posted by DonCoat:

Asarian, do you speak Russian? Are you fluent enough to know how that phrase ("That's for chickens to laugh at") would be used? Can you give an example?

We've had some discussions/speculation about this topic, but I don't think we ever got a definitive answer. If you can nail it down, you'd be a minor damn hero your own self.

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No, I don't speak Russian. But my brother is married to a Russian woman. I will see them again in two weeks or so. I will ask. Should be an interesting day. :)

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Originally posted by DonCoat:

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Originally posted by asarian:

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Originally posted by DonCoat:

Asarian, do you speak Russian? Are you fluent enough to know how that phrase ("That's for chickens to laugh at") would be used? Can you give an example?

We've had some discussions/speculation about this topic, but I don't think we ever got a definitive answer. If you can nail it down, you'd be a minor damn hero your own self.

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No, I don't speak Russian. But my brother is married to a Russian woman. I will see them again in two weeks or so. I will ask. Should be an interesting day. :)

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Thanks, I'm looking forward to any info you can dig up.

I get the impression it's a sort of snappy comeback, maybe to a bad joke. Or possibly a put-down ("that's so pathetic even chickens would laugh at it").

Another possibility is that it's pure nonsense, like some of those odd English-language T-shirts sold in Japan. Or a quote from something well-known in Russia, like a fairy tale or a proverb. It'll be interesting to find out.

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Originally posted by asarian:

Well, the impression I got was, that, in meaning, it's very close to something like: "It's laughable!" In the sense of a thing or situation being too ridiculous, or too beneath you, to even consider.

Tip: for fun, copy & paste the words in my (upper) tag in google, and you'll see it pop up many, many times in Russian text. :) Apparently, the expression is alive and kicking (pun intended).

At any rate, I fired off an email to my brother today; so I expect a more or less conclusive answer in the next few days.

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