NEW Serenity Comic!!! by PhyreLight

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 3:21 PM

SAB39

I found the story hard to follow... The top right panel on page five is incredibly important, but very subtle indeed. I missed it entirely and was completely confused by the ending until I hunted back for the salient parts.

It's an interesting and powerful story; I wish we could see it in some other format though.

Also... not enough Kaylee.

www.fans4writers.com

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 3:25 PM

TWO

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly

A PDF file with all 8 pages of the "Serenity: The Other Half" comic can be downloaded at
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/8/13/2048723/Serenity-TheOtherHalf.p
df
The PDF file will be available indefinitely.

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 3:36 PM

The part that creeps me out is towards the bottom of that same page (pg. 5) where the guy thinks that the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers.

Experience the Horribleness!

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 4:49 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
The part that creeps me out is towards the bottom of that same page (pg. 5) where the guy thinks that the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers.

Guy is worrying that River knows how the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers. Like using him as bait.

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 5:11 PM

DEADLOCKVICTIM

...i think its shiny... well done

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Wednesday, August 6, 2008 9:38 PM

OUT2THEBLACK

SHINY find , little one...

You're a bright light in this dark 'Verse...

Thanks for bringin' this to them as need it told !

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:57 AM

WYTCHCROFT

damn straight:)

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 3:25 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Shiny!

Now if we could just get Joss to greenlight a Serenity monthly comic like he is doing w/ Buffy and Angel.

__________________________________________
Holding the line since December '02!

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Fans:

http://www.richmondbrowncoats.org

Color Officer / X.O. Echo Company

http://76thbattalion.homestead.com/index.html

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 3:58 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Anonymous1:
Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
The part that creeps me out is towards the bottom of that same page (pg. 5) where the guy thinks that the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers.

Guy is worrying that River knows how the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers. Like using him as bait.

Yeah. That's why it creeps me out! All of those other smugglers are dead b/c the Alliance has been looking for one girl.

Experience the Horribleness!

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 4:20 AM

A couple of questions:

1. is this official or fanfic? Seems the former, but just wanna be sure.

2. Page 6 - How does Wash shoot those ships? Serenity has no weapons.

3. Have there been more of these comins that i may have missed? (I know about those left behind and Better days)

4. When do we get the first half? :P

/insert Monty Python sketch about the Spanish inquisition:

(just the first 30 or so seconds)

As for the story itself, nice. I assume River executed the guy?

And protecting a stagecoach. Class.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 4:51 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:

2. Page 6 - How does Wash shoot those ships? Serenity has no weapons.

I totally agree. I don't get it. Yet, this story I still find amazing due to the fact we now know why River is on the job at the beginning of the BDM. Now I want to see the comic that comes before this and after this.

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CREATOR OF THE MOST RANDOM ACCIDENTAL THREAD IN THE 'VERSE, AND PREVIOUS OWNER OF A BILLBOARD SIZED SENTIENT KILLER BANNER!

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:25 AM

What a great surprise, thanks comic guys! And Joss, I'm assuming he gave the green light.

I had to read this one a few times for it to make sense. It is rushed, but it does explain River on the heist in the BDM. Does she kill the hostage? He was an Alliance plant, right? It looks like self defense, but still, Mal uses her talents for personal gain, bad Mal. It's kind of sad; no wonder Simon is the way he is in the movie. He wants to protect his beloved young sister from anymore harm.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:26 AM

:D yes we do.

According to fanwank at whedonesque, the ship has weapons.

How? Well we know that the cargohold is detachable... and this one has weapons. It is possible and the ship does have a couple of things which "may" be weaponry.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:29 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
What a great surprise, thanks comic guys! And Joss, I'm assuming he gave the green light.

I had to read this one a few times for it to make sense. It is rushed, but it does explain River on the heist in the BDM. Does she kill the hostage? He was a Alliance plant, right? It looks like self defense, but still, Mal uses her talents for personal gain, bad Mal. It's kind of sad; no wonder Simon is the way he is in the movie. He wants to protect his beloved young sister from anymore harm.

Great character development though.

As for having to read it a few times, true, but this comic is also thrown in at the deep end, right in the middle of a story so IMO it works really well. Having to reread it to make sense adds to its perceived longevity. It feels a lot longer than it is. Something the other comics suffered from - they "felt" short.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:59 AM

SAB39

Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:
I had to read this one a few times for it to make sense. It is rushed, but it does explain River on the heist in the BDM. Does she kill the hostage? He was a Alliance plant, right?

Yes, she does. That was what I was getting at when I said it's very subtle and that that top right panel on page 5 is so important. Simon got knocked out and is unconscious, the guy realizes that River can tell what he's thinking, and points a gun at her.

I guess the logic of the comic is that we've all seen the BDM and so it should be completely obvious exactly what would happen if someone pointed a gun at River in close quarters...

www.fans4writers.com

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 6:58 AM

NCBROWNCOAT

Read it last night, but I think I need to go back and read it again.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 10:12 AM

Quote:
According to fanwank at whedonesque, the ship has weapons.

How? Well we know that the cargohold is detachable... and this one has weapons. It is possible and the ship does have a couple of things which "may" be weaponry.

Could someone please remind me how the cargohold is detatchable? Xie xie.

Yea! Who knows, Joss did say the area down the stairs in the cockpit was going to play an important part of the series in the future. Maybe that's where theyre at... (let the speculation begin!)

Oh we should try and bump this thread to news!

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CREATOR OF THE MOST RANDOM ACCIDENTAL THREAD IN THE 'VERSE, AND PREVIOUS OWNER OF A BILLBOARD SIZED SENTIENT KILLER BANNER!

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 12:27 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
The part that creeps me out is towards the bottom of that same page (pg. 5) where the guy thinks that the Alliance has been hunting down smugglers.

Maybe they have?

I am starting to think that the edges of "society" are far more violent than I previously believed.

Quote:
Originally posted by CantTakeMySky:
Could someone please remind me how the cargohold is detatchable? Xie xie.

Yea! Who knows, Joss did say the area down the stairs in the cockpit was going to play an important part of the series in the future. Maybe that's where theyre at... (let the speculation begin!)

Oh we should try and bump this thread to news!

I doubt it can be bumped up to news... probably need Haken or someone to actually put it there.

As for how the cargo bay is detachable, no idea. I also had not idea that Joss had even talked about it. Interesting - Did he give any hints at what his plans were?

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
That's why it creeps me out! All of those other smugglers are dead b/c the Alliance has been looking for one girl.

I don't think the guy was hunting River. They were hunting smugglers because they were smugglers. The guy says "What if she's the one who escaped? Of course, the Doctor, her Brother. I could get promoted for this." So he knows about River but he isn't there because of River.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:26 PM

The cargo bay is detachable. Zoic designed it that way. They mentioned it in the Serenity or Firefly extras. They put clamps on the ship. The idea was that Serenity is a truck and should be able to set one cargo bay down and pick up another one.

Notice in Serenity that the cargo bay is blue!!!! Joss even mentions in the Collector's Edition commentary that the cargo bay isn't home yet when Nathan said it felt like home. It's blue. Blue like the Alliance!

My latest theory on how the Reaver ships got blown up.

Wash and Kaylee rigged those blinking beer kegs to explode. In Serenity, they carried false signals in space. Maybe they can fly in atmo too. Fill them with fuel and let them fly!
See the explosion of one of the ships. You can see two beer kegs...or maybe they are ship parts.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 5:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:
A couple of questions:

1. is this official or fanfic? Seems the former, but just wanna be sure.

See first page. Joss Whedon Executive Producer!!!!

Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:
3. Have there been more of these comics that i may have missed? (I know about those left behind and Better days)

Nope haven't missed any.

Book mini-series coming later this year.

Also wonder how many of these online ones we will get.

The onlines will be printed in a graphic novel collection at some point.

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 11:16 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Felt a bit rushed. Iwould have prefered a few more panels and a lot more dialogue or at least better flowing. I know dialogue isn't very practical in the situation presented but internal monologues almost always feel awkward to me.

Still, I really liked the overall story and the art. And every new bit added to the verse is welcome from me.

REally looking forward to that Book series.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Friday, August 8, 2008 4:39 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

I'm confused on who the guy is. At first he appears to be an Alliance plant acting like a smuggler, may even be a low level Op (not a great one but an Op of some kind) - on page 2 River says, "Not... what... we... thought" and there's the montage of the guy doing what looks like various kinds of Op like torture, the images she's seeing of his past.

But then he appears to be there not for them and that it's just a coincidence, and he's just figuring out that she and Simon are the "ones that escaped...?" "No more dangerous assignments..."

At the end we get that Mal knew the guy was bad from the start (quite a stretch imho) and put her with him to put her in a position where she'd have to kill him so she'd be bloodied like the others and bound by guilt? That's pretty hardcore bad!

River's comment, "could a been a lot worse" and the image of the crew all dead in Serenity - the guy doesn't have a gun in his hand, a Blue Hands kind of weapon instead? They have veins on their faces looks like the same kind of death. And does this confirm that she can see the future, a possible future? Or just writer's license?

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Friday, August 8, 2008 5:22 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
I'm confused on who the guy is. At first he appears to be an Alliance plant acting like a smuggler, may even be a low level Op (not a great one but an Op of some kind) - on page 2 River says, "Not... what... we... thought" and there's the montage of the guy doing what looks like various kinds of Op like torture, the images she's seeing of his past.

I guess that comes from the title "The Other Half" - we only get half a story. The guy is probably "Generic Alliance Agent(TM) #42".

Quote:
But then he appears to be there not for them and that it's just a coincidence, and he's just figuring out that she and Simon are the "ones that escaped...?" "No more dangerous assignments..."

I suspect is that this was a generic honeypot - a job set up to see who will fall for it, not after anyone in particular.

Quote:
At the end we get that Mal knew the guy was bad from the start (quite a stretch imho) and put her with him to put her in a position where she'd have to kill him so she'd be bloodied like the others and bound by guilt? That's pretty hardcore bad!

Mal did not put her there because he "knew" the job was bad, but he suspected it so - she was his ace in the hole.

I liked that instead of apologising for putting her in such a situation, he welcomes her to the crew.

Quote:
River's comment, "could a been a lot worse" and the image of the crew all dead in Serenity - the guy doesn't have a gun in his hand, a Blue Hands kind of weapon instead? They have veins on their faces looks like the same kind of death. And does this confirm that she can see the future, a possible future? Or just writer's license?

She is seeing what he is imagining - that he will have to kill them. Not a "future" at all.

As for the job, it seems to be transporting that guy from somewhere to somewhere else for some unknown reason, and we do not know why he is injured/ill either. Organ smuggling? jail break? crossing borders (unlikely)?

and what is it with the stagecoach type of transport?

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Friday, August 8, 2008 7:18 AM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by nbz:
A couple of questions:

1. is this official or fanfic? Seems the former, but just wanna be sure.

I can't answer most of your questions... but I do know that this is listed as produced by Joss, so it is canon...
my understanding is that Joss is bursting full of story lines regarding Firefly/Serenity, so he is slowly leaking some of them out... I'm hoping (fingers crossed) that he'll be able to film some shorts online w/the actors playing their own characters....
but it is only a hope.

edited to add: Oh I see that Anonymous1 already noted the 'exec producer credit'...

New Firefly fans should check this out: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816

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Friday, August 8, 2008 8:32 AM

Yeah, I had somehow missed that on my first (few) readthrough(s).

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Friday, August 8, 2008 8:38 AM

Okaaay... I get the canon, and the set up, and the River usefulness, and even the explosion. Now, can someone explain the freakin Stagecoach?

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Friday, August 8, 2008 10:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
At the end we get that Mal knew the guy was bad from the start (quite a stretch imho) and put her with him to put her in a position where she'd have to kill him so she'd be bloodied like the others and bound by guilt? That's pretty hardcore bad!

Well, you gotta take into consideration that the crew needed the job, and he was suspicious of the it because they gave him half up front unlike everyone else they've worked for. That's why he put River in with Simon. He knew that if his suspicions were correct, then she's going to take care of it. Though, I don't know if they were expecting the Reavers.

Plus, I don't think that River's hands were quite so innocent and unbloodied before she escaped the academy. Look at how she saved Kaylee in "War Stories" without a flinch.

Experience the Horribleness!

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Friday, August 8, 2008 10:40 AM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:
Quote:
Originally posted by pizmobeach:
At the end we get that Mal knew the guy was bad from the start (quite a stretch imho) and put her with him to put her in a position where she'd have to kill him so she'd be bloodied like the others and bound by guilt? That's pretty hardcore bad!
Well, you gotta take into consideration that the crew needed the job, and he was suspicious of the it because they gave him half up front unlike everyone else they've worked for. That's why he put River in with Simon. He knew that if his suspicions were correct, then she's going to take care of it. Though, I don't know if they were expecting the Reavers.

Definately not expecting the Reavers. And I don't really think he expected her to "take care" of anything. Remember, at this point in the story the only person who's seen River do anything weapon like is Kaylee and Mal's not the type to depend on what he hasn't seen. He's also never asked any of his crew (much less the damaged 17 year old) to kill anyone on a suspicion. He might do so, but he's never asked it of his crew. I think it's more that, after what she did with Early, he thinks she might have a bit more insight into the situation than the rest of them. If she sees that this man is a threat, maybe she can at least warn them, maybe do more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Friday, August 8, 2008 10:58 AM

River's bloody hands,

Remember the Tam sessions?

It is Mal that has clued into her apparent talents and usefulness in this scenario. But, I think his motives for using her go deeper than an extra hired gun with telepathic tendencies. He WANTS to piss off Simon, purposely, for challenging him and let's not forget...Simon was in Inara's shuttle... I'm guessing Mal knows Simon won't tell him, the reason he was there, because of patient/doctor confidentiality and that's eating away at him. This ties well into the BDM.

I sense a little emotional blackmail at this point. And, poor River, as useful as she is, she's caught in the middle.

She has no affect or reaction when Mal welcomes her to the crew. It's a bittersweet moment not a triumphant one.

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Friday, August 8, 2008 4:22 PM

EMBERS

Quote:
Originally posted by PhyreLight:

Plus, I don't think that River's hands were quite so innocent and unbloodied before she escaped the academy. Look at how she saved Kaylee in "War Stories" without a flinch.

as Platonist says, we know for sure that River's hands were very much bloodied by watching the Tam Sessions:
http://www.session416.com/

New Firefly fans should check this out: http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=2&t=15816

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 11:40 AM

Quote:
]Well, you gotta take into consideration that the crew needed the job, and he was suspicious of the it because they gave him half up front unlike everyone else they've worked for.

What about Niska? He gave them the first half up front in the TRain Job.

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CREATOR OF THE MOST RANDOM ACCIDENTAL THREAD IN THE 'VERSE, AND PREVIOUS OWNER OF A BILLBOARD SIZED SENTIENT KILLER BANNER!

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 12:20 PM

and look at how that turned out! (yeah, not really much of a point there, but well, at that time Mal did not know he had a reader on his hands.)

@Platonist - While Mal using River for that reason would be wonderfully petty, wouldn't antagonising Simon involve letting him know?

As for the Tam Sessions, none of the crew know about them (and it was a different situation where we do not know her state of mind), so they should not be used as "prior proof" to already having bloody hands.

I don't think Mal put her there to Kill the guy, just to get a read. The arrival of the Reavers would not have been part of the plan.

What I really liked was the lack of remorse, both in River and in Mal. No excuses for doing what either of them did, no (fake?) apology by Mal for putting her in such a situation. Just an acceptance, and probably a bittersweet quote that she was now part of the crew (that somehow got turned by the time of the BDM).

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 1:58 PM

nbz: I see Mal's and Simon's antagonism as an on going sentiment, it's poetically linear, coming to a culmination in the BDM with Simon leaving and taking River with him. It's multifaceted with issues ranging from River's emerging roll on Serenity to Simon's unknown connection to Inara. Both are strong and passionate characters that want things their way.

I don't think Mal needs to know about the Tam sessions to start surmising what River was trained for, he got an earful from Kaylee about what happened during War Stories, and this is after Mal found her with a gun in the cargo bay.
This may have been a trial run for her, on Mal's part, to see what she is able to achieve as far as reading and defending the crew and herself. What he doesn't know is that she can be triggered, like in the Maidenhead. (Now, we know why his first reaction is to go for his gun... interesting)

And, he doesn't seem all that surprised when he sees her drop the gun, nor when they are wondering how the passenger was shot. Zoe thinks it is a stray bullet, but Mal is looking directly at River, he knows better. His suspicions are confirmed, hence, "welcome to the crew."

As far as River's remorse, she doesn't have any because the Alliance F*d with her brain and turned her into a psychopath. It's not until the BDM, when she says, "put a bullet in me" that she shows any conscious responsibility for her actions.

Making of course Mal's use of her even more pathetically unethical, but he is an anti hero, least we not forget.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 2:12 PM

CHARLIEBZ

Quote:
Originally posted by Platonist:

Making of course Mal's use of her even more pathetically unethical, but he is an anti hero, least we not forget.

Yes, let's not forget that. Simon is right to not want River going out on jobs. I think most people tend to romanticize the criminal aspects of the crew but it's a dangerous business. One where you could easily lose your soul...A young, damaged woman should most assuredly not be going out on heists. What kind of future is this for her? How will she ever heal?

Simon needs to get River the hell off that boat but he is too weak. Weak in the sense that it is easier to stay on Serenity under the "protection" of Mal instead of finding a place of their own. Maybe the best place for them would have been that hillfolk settlement. Well, at least something similar with people who aren't willing to set them on fire.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 2:18 PM

VETERAN

Don't squat with your spurs on.

Thanks Phrye, that was the first issue I've read since the three that came out just before the BDM. I like how Mal used River's ability as a "reader" (remember Out of Gas) on a hunch that something was up. Lucky for them that gun dropped into the van.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 3:41 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by CantTakeMySky:
What about Niska? He gave them the first half up front in the TRain Job.

Well, yeah. Look what happened there. They robbed the people of that town the drugs they dearly needed, and Mal in turn gave both the drugs and the money back. What the writers of the series are saying is that when crooked people are more than willing to work with you, then they want more from you than you are willing to part with.

Experience the Horribleness!

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 4:51 PM

I am certain I posted a reply here a few hours ago - grr!

@Platonist - "Put a bullet in me" is less remorse, more the torture her mind is going through at that time, some of it due to what she has done, but mostly because of the new memories that she cannot fully piece together yet.

Also where would OiS and "No touching guns" fit into all this?

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 5:02 PM

*points to nbz* I second that.

Experience the Horribleness!

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 6:29 PM

"no touching guns"...Mal doesn't know what River did in War Stories until the Pow Wow with Kaylee and the others. He did witness her irrational behavior with Jayne; "he looks better in red" so it's no sharp objects, guns, etc. Almost like the rules you would have for a child that you haven't trained yet. Mal doesn't know her proficiency with guns, pens, etc. And he doesn't give her the gun, it falls through the window, we assume that she takes it from the Alliance passenger.

nbz: I agree, that River is suffering from a great deal of mental pain in that scene with Simon, but I would like to believe that she is starting to be aware enough to know that she does things that are out of her control and she doesn't like it... "I never know what I'm saying"... just my hope for a healthier future for her.

I often wonder why Inara didn’t take River to the Training House with her. What a great place to hide her. She’s the perfect age and would have fit in with the other students, with out to many questions asked. And, she would have been safe under the umbrella of the Guild.

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 6:43 PM

Quote:
He did notice her irrational behavior with Jayne; "he looks better in red"

If you think about it, its not all that irrational. This is the one of the deepest things in Firefly. He was wearing a Blue-Sun shirt. She also ripped the labels off the Blue-Sun food cans. Blue-Sun was most likely behind the Acadamy, since they run basically everything, and she hates them. There's more things she does to show this, but they elude me at the moment.

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CREATOR OF THE MOST RANDOM ACCIDENTAL THREAD IN THE 'VERSE, AND PREVIOUS OWNER OF A BILLBOARD SIZED SENTIENT KILLER BANNER!

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 6:50 PM

maybe not irrational to her, but aggressive to others, especially Jayne

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Saturday, August 9, 2008 8:19 PM

KAYNA

I love my captain

Well Jayne wasn't exactly friendly to her or Simon. Until Mal almost killed him, he was always trying to talk folks into selling them to the alliance. I think she had reason to be hostile to both him and Blue Sun

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Op: You're fighting a war you've already lost.
Mal: Yeah, well I'm known for that.

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Sunday, August 10, 2008 12:33 AM

HUGHFF

Enjoyable enough but I'm not entirely happy with the character development in these comics. Mal's feet of clay seem to have hardened up considerably. In this episode he gets Simon and River on a criminal run, which was a MAJOR source of conflict in the bdm. And he had a clearer idea of River's talents than sits comfortably with me.

In Better Days it was even worse. He should have been tortured by jealousy in the late reveal about Inara's unexpected client. Given how Atherton made him twitch, what would this have done? Significantly more than Nandi did to Inara, methinks. So while I'll take this (thank you very much) I hope Mal is a complete spoon in the next installment, whenever that should appear.

www.cpfc.org - my life

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Sunday, August 10, 2008 3:57 AM

MER

Quote:
Originally posted by two:

How did you save the picture like that? I tried to download and got nowhere. I thought about printing it out though...

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Sunday, August 10, 2008 6:36 AM

WYTCHCROFT

Quote:
PLATONIST

Friday, August 08, 2008 - 10:58

River's bloody hands,

Remember the Tam sessions?

Quote:
NBZ
As for the Tam Sessions, none of the crew know about them (and it was a different situation where we do not know her state of mind), so they should not be used as "prior proof" to already having bloody hands.

Uh, i think it's a deliberate visual reference to the Tam sessions,
but that doesn't mean the crew know about any of that.
The connection is - being put to use.
I think we're being asked to consider just how (not) very different River's position is on Serenity.
The Alliance wanted to use her (as the Tam sessions show) Mal DOES use her - and it always ends with bloody hands...

Of course, although this is DARK STUFF -
it actually adds to the positive conclusion of the BDM
where River makes the choice to (potentially) sacrifice herself (and get bloody hands) for herself.
It's a very Joss type set up (see Buffy season 8.5)

I think Mal does want to piss Simon off - it's all about owning River.
But I agree with NBZ that Mal didn't intend for River to have to shoot somebody.

The whole story is about the use to which people are put.
The Alliance using the guy to chase down smugglers. (Oh, definitely a blue sun weapon, so an undercover Op for sure.)
The Crew using the guy to get money etc etc.

The stagecoach? Guess there was trouble in town -
and it was the only transport out of dodge! Serenity would have called attention to itself
and generally hides away during shifty deals.

It's great to see the character development moving on -
and following from the previous comics (and many insightful character threads on this site!).

This is the crew as Whedon wanted us to see them - i feel anyway.

My only quibble is Simon's use of Mal's first name - it doesn't feel right and it's over used.

I want more of these - i love the comic series.

(apologies for the weird indent here -
i can't see with my right eye at the moment
so i have to shove everything to the left!)

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Sunday, August 10, 2008 9:20 AM