Choosing a client by CheyenneCM

FIREFLY EPISODE DISCUSSIONS

Choosing a client

POSTED BY: CHEYENNECM
UPDATED: Tuesday, October 12, 2004 09:32
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Monday, September 27, 2004 9:30 AM

Osiyo...

This is for the ladies, though the gentlemen are welcome to answer also, should they be so inclined.

When Inara was choosing clients in Shindig who would have choosen the first guy (the young man who would have had his honor flattered) she declined? I would have. Perhaps it is his little-boy-lost quality, or his innocent nervousness.

Atherton seemed an obnoxious cretin from the first moment we met him on the vid. Why would she choose him over the flattered young man? Ech.

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"If the snow on the roof is too heavy then the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger."
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Monday, September 27, 2004 10:05 AM

PURPLEBELLY

As an agent of a True Alliance cell, who has adopted a peripatetic lifestyle in part to proselytise for that faction, Inara's choices outside known faction members are the sons of prominent citizens or those like Wing who may have personal disaffection from the local nobility.

Only Purplebelly believes this

He would also like to apologise for the double entendres

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Monday, September 27, 2004 2:41 PM

WYDRAZ

Quote:
Originally posted by CheyenneCM:

Atherton seemed an obnoxious cretin from the first moment we met him on the vid. Why would she choose him over the flattered young man? Ech.

Um, maybe he was offering more money. A girl's gotta earn a living, you know.

Oh, and play Strange Adventures in Infinite Space. http://digital-eel.com/sais

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Thursday, September 30, 2004 4:26 PM

PLUTOMOMENT

money and I think he was a regular client. Maybe she didnt think he treated her so bad til she found Mal. You dont know the last time she saw him. Also if Mal hadnt been at the party things probably would have gone fine, even if he was an ass.

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Thursday, October 7, 2004 6:51 PM

RATNUT12

Perhaps she enjoyed the way Atherton used his "sword".

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 3:14 AM

CHARKI127

Quote:
Originally posted by CheyenneCM:
Osiyo...

This is for the ladies, though the gentlemen are welcome to answer also, should they be so inclined.

When Inara was choosing clients in Shindig who would have choosen the first guy (the young man who would have had his honor flattered) she declined? I would have. Perhaps it is his little-boy-lost quality, or his innocent nervousness.

Atherton seemed an obnoxious cretin from the first moment we met him on the vid. Why would she choose him over the flattered young man? Ech.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
"If the snow on the roof is too heavy then the ceiling will cave in. His brains are in terrible danger."
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

I am, against my better judgement, responding to this before I turn in. All manner of bad actions are taken when one is drunk or drowsy. I am not drunk TODAY but I may have to edit this when I wake up.
Where you viewed Mr Wing as obnoxious, I read self confident and assured. The younger man did seem sweet. He also seemed insecure. Inara wanted easy money. That kid screamed high (emotional) maintenance. At the ball he would have drained Inara by asking for constant reassurances. In bed, it could have been a nightmare. Men confident in one area are often confident in others. Atherton held some appeal for Inara as this was a repeat visit. I think Ath should be cut a little slack. Jelousy rarely brings out the best in human behavior. He could have been utterly charming if Mal hadn't crashed their party. From one woman's point of view. charki

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 3:32 AM

DRKATE

Quote:
Originally posted by charki127:
Where you viewed Mr Wing as obnoxious, I read self confident and assured.

I'm afraid I'd have to come down on the side of obnoxious. Before Mal ever showed up at the party, Wing had already offended Inara with his crude comment about all the men wanting to be in her bed. I've always wondered how choosing him fitted in with what she said about choosing people for their personalities. Surely if she'd met him before, she never would have picked him again! (Unless, as someone said, there's a political motive behind her choices really). Also, the man is SO insecure - just look how he behaves towards Mal, and how tightly he holds her arm.
To answer the original question, I would have gone for the boy rather than Wing, but, as there seemed to be several other choices, I probably would have picked someone else!

Kate

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 3:37 AM

BROWNCOAT1

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

Interesting perspective Charki.

I can agree that women like confidence in a man, being that I am a man and it has been my experience that women more readily gravitate to a man who is confident rather than a man who is unsure of themselves. A man who is sure of himself, his standing, and his abilities is more appealing as he will not require constant reassurances.

Pertaining to Ath though, I think his confidence has past the gentlemanly boundry of self assurance and lapsed into arrogance. A gentleman would not look down his nose at anyone, especially an acquaintance of the woman he was trying to woe into his permanent service. His need to play with and then dispatch Mal on the field of honor also shows a perverse fascination for his own perceived elevation above those who do not come w/ a pedigree.

There is also Atherton's slanderous comments to Inara at the end of the duel. A gentleman would have accepted the defeat and the loss of the woman without a public display of venom and threats. His vehement outburst, threatening to prevent her plying her trade again shows how little regard he has for Inara.

I have to agree that jealousy and a bruised ego will make most say irrational, hateful things they would not normally say, but Atherton's behavior toward both Mal & Inara show the depth of his arrogance. Arrogance is not the virtue of a gentleman.

I think he should be happy that Mal spared him and crawl off to think on how he came to be in such a sorry state, though I doubt he will spend anytime in introspective reflection. I would wager that Atherton will continue his selfish behavior until he meets his maker.

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

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Tuesday, October 12, 2004 9:32 AM

CELTICSUNCAT

He has money. He acts like it. Inara hangs out with upper-class people; it's part of the job to mix it up with snobs. Inara makes several complaints about the "backwater" planets they visit throughout the series and how she can't screen any "respectable clients" on them. Not that she's necessarily a snob herself (though she can be), but Atherton is part of her clientele: rich aristocrats. Clients like Ath are the norm for her, and his attitude is all just part of the package. Remember the "your clock's probably rigged to speed up and cheat us out of our fun" comment? Ath isn't the first client to insult Inara, and she knows he won't be the last. She likes rich, handsome, aristocratic men, and she likes him (we don't know how he treated her on other visits, so maybe he wasn't a jerk all the time). He has, in addition to being rich and charming, invited her to "the social event of the season" (or, as she tells Mal, "it's THE ONLY party"). Plus he's a somewhat regular client, which means she can get more repeat business and there's familiarity there. The awkward guy meant no guarantees that it wouldn't be an exhausting episode of giving him constant reassurance, only to not have him sign on as a regular client.

"I got stabbed, you know. Right here."

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