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I'm more convinced than ever that Inara has abilities/skills/training that allow her certain powers of persuasion and perhaps subtle types of mental reading or control.

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Posted by Hippydog: "don’t try those companion wiles/tricks on me?"

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
What do you think? Am I out to lunch on this, or is there more to Companion training than the Kama Sutra?

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Originally posted by psykotek:
what about Dune's Bene Gesserit
maybe something to do with total body and vocal control?

just a thought

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
I'm also thinking this might be some of Inara's fascination with Mal. Maybe this is a guy that she can't 'read' and might not be as susceptible to her 'wiles'.

SergeantX

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Originally posted by goatus:
She has feminine wiles ;)

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Originally posted by psykotek:
what about Dune's Bene Gesserit(SP)
maybe something to do with total body and vocal control?

just a thought

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
I'm also thinking this might be some of Inara's fascination with Mal. Maybe this is a guy that she can't 'read' and might not be as susceptible to her 'wiles'. Anyway, I'm betting there's a lot more to the whole Companion thing than just a high class escort.

SergeantX

"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith

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Originally posted by GraceOM:

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
I'm also thinking this might be some of Inara's fascination with Mal. Maybe this is a guy that she can't 'read' and might not be as susceptible to her 'wiles'. Anyway, I'm betting there's a lot more to the whole Companion thing than just a high class escort.

SergeantX

"..and here's to all the dreamers, may our open hearts find rest." -- Nanci Griffith

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I think maybe her fascination with Mal is that she can read him. That is, she knows very well that he's powerfully attracted to her, but he's keeping her at arm's length anyway. I'm guessing that's a pretty unusual experience for her The mystery to her (I'm guessing again) is the why of it.

Grace

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Gambit3 wrote:
Wednesday, September 17, 2003 13:13
It ain't Jedi Mind tricks.

It's them Feminine Wiles.

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks, but these last only so long. These drugs are a one way street, because when age finally overcomes the power of the drug the crash is so severe most of the women die from it.
So, traditionally they commit a kind of ritual suicide when the time nears. Inara's time is near and she has chosen her little sojourn on Serenity to disappear into 'the black'. She didn't count on falling in love.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Originally posted by Fireflew:

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks, but these last only so long. These drugs are a one way street, because when age finally overcomes the power of the drug the crash is so severe most of the women die from it.
So, traditionally they commit a kind of ritual suicide when the time nears. Inara's time is near and she has chosen her little sojourn on Serenity to disappear into 'the black'. She didn't count on falling in love.

SergeantX

"Dream a little dream or you can live a little dream. I'd rather live it, cause dreamers always chase but never get it." Aesop Rock

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Would this drugs be at all similar to that sand-type powder used in Dune to maintain life? Would Joss put something like that in Firefly, in a universe that planned to be completely differnet to everything else?

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Originally posted by Fireflew:

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Originally posted by SergeantX:
Inara is actually very old, I'm guess seventy+ years. She, like all companions takes drugs to maintain her youthful looks...

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Would this drugs be at all similar to that sand-type powder used in Dune to maintain life? Would Joss put something like that in Firefly, in a universe that planned to be completely differnet to everything else?

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Actually, in another thread, the "anti-aging drug" theory was suggested as a possibility for the not-a-suicide-kit box with the syringe in it that Inara pulls out in Serenity, when they first see the Reaver ship.
I do like this idea, but I'd guess her age even higher than 70s. Why, I don't know. I also like the idea that after a certain point the crash from the drug is severe. Nice and traumatic.

"Well personally, I kinda want to slay the dragon."

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Originally posted by annik:


IMHO, the pursuit of eternal youth is a common theme even IRL today. Don't most of you get hundreds of spams per week touting the benefits of HGH, or even why you should be taking Viagra all the time?

I don't think that anti-aging is necessarily a crossover into the Dune universe ... I think it is a major part of our RL culture today ... sad and pathetic state that it is.

Cheers,
Annik
... my sister's a ship. We had a complicated childhood.

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Originally posted by ebonezer:

This might be a shot in the dark (i don't know exactly how men think, and i don't claim too) but wouldn't some men be trilled to do whatever this beautiful compainion might ask them too, just because of the off chance that she might have sex with them? This would probably be very subconcious or subliminal thoughts on the part of the man, but have you ever noticed that sales people will go a little farther for a pretty face then they will for somebody who is less attractive? (except the K-mart, people at K-mart don't help anybody)

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Four out of five dentists reccomend calling Ebo a girl.

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Originally posted by HUMBLE:
What you're decribing sounds more than a little like what the Bene Gesserits used in Dune. You know, the power of Voice. My guess was they used vocal tones to semi-hypnotize people or make them more compliant to their bidding. Maybe Inara went through some kind of psychological schooling that trained her to "read" people quickly. I think that's what it is, she's just been around enough and exposed to enough people that she can get a read on most people. I remember that she was fooled by Saffron and being that Saffron was also trained as a Companion, this implies that the Companions must recieve some sort of training that allows them to conceal their own emotions(inscrutability?) while at the same time be able to extract info/get into the heads of their clients.

Just a thought anyway.

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Originally posted by HUMBLE:
I dunno, the "sexual arena" extends for quite a ways.

HUMBLE

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Originally posted by HUMBLE:
"Certain people" meaning Mal? He's kind of a live wire, a raw nerve. Maybe that's why Inara is drawn to him. Confusion/love/lust. Her Companion training seems to break down around Mal for some reason. Maybe old Mal is learning a few of HER mind tricks. Or maybe it's that and something else combined.

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Originally posted by HUMBLE:
"Certain people" meaning Mal? He's kind of a live wire, a raw nerve. Maybe that's why Inara is drawn to him. Confusion/love/lust. Her Companion training seems to break down around Mal for some reason. Maybe old Mal is learning a few of HER mind tricks. Or maybe it's that and something else combined.

Just my view from the peanut gallery. HUMBLE.

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Originally posted by HUMBLE:
GRACEOM-I'm with you on Mal caring about his ship and THEN his crew. He'd live and die for Serenity, having proven the in Out Of Gas. I think Inara is jealous that these are his primary concerns. She may admire this quality about him but having met so few men of his caliber, she's lost on how to go about putting the moves on Mal. Inara's training probably would not be a factor. It's obvious they have a mutual attraction. (Both being to stubborn to admit it.) The sexual tension is thick enough to cut with a knife!

I think that with Saffron, Mal wasn't going to do the deed with her. Inara's pull was too strong. With Nandi, that's totally on Inara. It was her idea to get Mal to help out. His initial idea was for Nandi an Co. to hightail it. But, oh no, gets persuaded to fight it out. Nandi jumps on poor Mal like a tigress on a steak. Then Inara acts out the hurt, confused, and betrayed schoolgirl routine crying her eyes out.

I believe from Inara's first meeting on Serenity, she was painting herself into a corner. Laying out the foundation to prevent a relationship from forming between her an Mal. Regretting it later on.

Yeah, I think you're right about Mal wanting Inara at that first meeting. She was testing his reactions to get a read on him. Scoping him out. Maybe she didn't intend at first to actually liking and falling in love with Mal.

Whaddaya think. HUMBLE.

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Originally posted by NicolaClarke:
Humble - Thanks!

As for the Nandi situation, I think that Mal's attraction to her (and Nandi's to him) isn't difficult to explain - she has all the qualities that Mal admires (strong will, determination to be independent/self-sufficient, etc). Plus, there's that night-before-a-battle element - the desire to feel alive.

When he says that they (he and Nandi) are the only two people in the room, he means it (mostly)... he doesn't realise Inara has feelings for him, and he's doing his best to repress his own at least partly *because* he doesn't realise. (Notice how, at the end of the episode - after Nandi has made it clear to Mal that Inara does have the feelings - he goes straight for the question...)

Inara's reaction is totally human. She has been trying to deny her feelings too, but this - the first time (bar Saffron) she's seen him respond to another woman - makes her see that isn't as easy as she'd thought. Hence her immediate desire to leave.

As to why she's in denial... perhaps it's her mysterious illness/whatever. Or perhaps not so mysterious: after all, could anyone imagine Mal being happy with Inara as a Companion if they got together? Yet being a Companion is, after all, her life - I'd hesitantly suggest that it's as important to her as Mal's own role as captain of Serenity is to him.

Just my thoughts...

/ pure intentions, juxtaposed /

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