Fic: Uncertain Footing (Firefly, Book's Legacy, 5/?)

[jedibuttercup]

PG-15; Firefly crossover. Mal recieves a mysterious package, leading the crew of Serenity on a voyage of discovery. Into every generation...

(Book's Legacy 5: Uncertain Footing)

As of October 17, 2006, this story has been rewritten, added to, and moved to a separate community. Link above goes to new location. Story index is here.

(Originally x-posted to joss100 and afterserenity)

Comments

[loriel-eris.livejournal.com]

You know you've just broken my heart, don't you? I like Mal/Inara, not necessarily together together, but subtle hints of it, and then you have to go and do this! I'm surprised that Mal

Despite the fact I don't like that Inara was spying on them, I can see this as something that would happen. The hopeless romantic in me wants a Happily Ever After for Mal & Inara tho. *g* Or if not a Happily Ever After, then at least for them Mal to come to terms with what Inara has done and for them to able to trust each other again.

Mal/Inara

[jedibuttercup]

> You know you've just broken my heart, don't you? I like Mal/Inara, not necessarily together together, but subtle hints of it, and then you have to go and do this!

Sorry! It was kind of necessary to shove them apart for my plot, and I really do have trouble seeing them as a functional pairing. Don't worry, though, she's not leaving or anything. They'll start getting along better once the shock wears off for Mal.

> Despite the fact I don't like that Inara was spying on them, I can see this as something that would happen. The hopeless romantic in me wants a Happily Ever After for Mal & Inara tho. *g* Or if not a Happily Ever After, then at least for them Mal to come to terms with what Inara has done and for them to able to trust each other again.

I'm actually sort of intending to get Inara into the kind of role Book served for Mal-- kind of a counselor/conscience thing, which she already did a little bit before.

[eustacia-vye28.livejournal.com]

Ow. It makes sense, but I was hoping that at least Mal and Inara would come to some kind of an understanding. Well, they sorta did, but I didn't think it would be like this!

Great job. :)

BL #6

[jedibuttercup]

> Great job. :)

Thank you!

> Ow. It makes sense, but I was hoping that at least Mal and Inara would come to some kind of an understanding. Well, they sorta did, but I didn't think it would be like this!

Don't worry, things will improve between them. Just not in a direction of romance. I'm hoping to move her into sort of a Book-ish supportive role for Mal, but it may take some time.

Re: BL #6

[eustacia-vye28.livejournal.com]

Hey, take all the time you need. I love how the characters are developing, and I really am interested in how the plot is turning out. :)

[missmaximus.livejournal.com]

Wow!

Not only was that a fantastic scene but it also answered questions I have had for a while. I actually wrote a min-essay and tried to attach it to the discussions you'd been having concerning this scene, but it didn't work and it was too long to write over. I wanted to say that what Inara did now would have everything to do with why she was there in the first place. So obviously, my comments were not necessary. Great minds and all that.

I also had wanted to say that Mal feels connected to women who have known suffering (Zoe, Nandi) or protective of people who have not (Kaylee). But Inara never spoke about her troubles and she didn't want his protection. He's been confused.

River is the oddity, she's in the protected group so far, he's not thinking of her as a veteren to pain, but as a victim. I suspect you plan to change that, but I'll just have to wait and see.

I recently read a book about a man who comes back from Vietnam War overwhelmed by guilt. For the next 25 years he helps rescue mothers and their children from abusive husbands. He says that he never had felt as connected with anyone else than to he did to those women and kids because they also knew what hell looked like.

I thought about this when I read your essay on Mal and River.

BL #6

[jedibuttercup]

> Not only was that a fantastic scene but it also answered questions I have had for a while. I actually wrote a min-essay and tried to attach it to the discussions you'd been having concerning this scene, but it didn't work and it was too long to write over. I wanted to say that what Inara did now would have everything to do with why she was there in the first place. So obviously, my comments were not necessary. Great minds and all that.

*grin* Glad it all worked.

> I also had wanted to say that Mal feels connected to women who have known suffering (Zoe, Nandi) or protective of people who have not (Kaylee). But Inara never spoke about her troubles and she didn't want his protection. He's been confused.

That's certainly a factor, I agree.

> River is the oddity, she's in the protected group so far, he's not thinking of her as a veteran to pain, but as a victim. I suspect you plan to change that, but I'll just have to wait and see.

Slowly but surely. There won't be any 'ship between them in this particular story, but I do hope to set up believable grounds for it.

> I recently read a book about a man who comes back from Vietnam War overwhelmed by guilt. For the next 25 years he helps rescue mothers and their children from abusive husbands. He says that he never had felt as connected with anyone else than to he did to those women and kids because they also knew what hell looked like. I thought about this when I read your essay on Mal and River.

That does make sense; I hadn't thought about that in so many words before. Thanks for sharing your insight.

[mgsmurf.livejournal.com]

Very nicely done. Inara as an almost spy makes perfect sense. And the fact that brought up the war, his privacy issues, and just blew ideas of him and her hooking up was a rather brillant and in character way to get their entanglement out of the way for the moment (which I am now convinced you'd have to do to hook him up with any other female crew). And you still show their connection to each other in all that so well.

On his trust issues, is he going to test her allegence sometime? He really wants to trust her and take her at face value, and yet very much knows nothing about her is on face value. But just maybe with this out in the open they could eventually get to some mutual level of trust, given time and her being more truthful from now on.

Lastly, I liked that it was really only female crew they talked about when mentioning who's told and not. Simon and Jayne are general outsiders, but especially that comment about Kaylee makes you think the female crew have more shared personal connections than many SF series show. Really I'm of the thought that if you put a bunch of women together they will connect with each other even if they may be very different personalities. So just interesting you maybe hint at that.

BL #6

[jedibuttercup]

> Very nicely done. Inara as an almost spy makes perfect sense. And the fact that brought up the war, his privacy issues, and just blew ideas of him and her hooking up was a rather brillant and in character way to get their entanglement out of the way for the moment (which I am now convinced you'd have to do to hook him up with any other female crew). And you still show their connection to each other in all that so well.

I was so on pins and needles posting this chapter, I was very grateful at the response, that their conversation worked for people. And I really do agree that things between them would have to be definitively broken for him to move on to anyone else. He's the type not to let go of things, even when things seem hopeless.

> On his trust issues, is he going to test her allegence sometime? He really wants to trust her and take her at face value, and yet very much knows nothing about her is on face value. But just maybe with this out in the open they could eventually get to some mutual level of trust, given time and her being more truthful from now on.

I think he will be watchful of her for awhile, want to see exactly what she sends back, and so on. Hm. Might have to touch on that a bit in Chapter 8, now that I think on it. But eventually, I'd like to move her into a Book-ish supportive role. There were still things about Book that niggled, but Mal was able to trust and lean on him anyway.

> Lastly, I liked that it was really only female crew they talked about when mentioning who's told and not. Simon and Jayne are general outsiders, but especially that comment about Kaylee makes you think the female crew have more shared personal connections than many SF series show. Really I'm of the thought that if you put a bunch of women together they will connect with each other even if they may be very different personalities. So just interesting you maybe hint at that.

Yeah. I remember on the show Inara referring to Kaylee as her meimei (little sister) more than once. I'm not sure Zoe would ever join in, but I picture the others having regular girl-time in Inara's shuttle. =)

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Amazing. There is no other word for it. You've utterly nailed the humor in the pathos, and now you're plumbing depths of subtext and subterfuge in an economic, tense, tightly-constructed way, and I'm absolutely stunned.

Inara as spy is an interesting read for that character. I haven't decided whether I can reconcile that notion with the woman presented in the series, but you've certainly laid out the argument for it, how the Guild operates, and how Companions comply such that it's a strong case for your explanation. I love Mal flinging back on Serenity Valley when Inara pulls the rug out from under him, and I'm almost afraid of what that will do to him. Seems he and Zoe both were on equal footing there towards the end, both having lost so much, it's fitting that he goes to her at the end.

What really impressed me is the handling of Inara in this confrontation. You've gotten her so perfect, I could never imagine it being better. Plenty of times, I've envisioned this confessional scene in my head and never been able to make Inara's side of it work because I cannot get inside her head. You've not only done that but you've put her feelings out of her mouth in the most true sense that it is just mind-boggling. She's strong, doesn't deny her feelings, and doesn't let Mal stick to his prejudices or imagine himself above them. She shoots right through him, tears him down when he thinks he's not given her space for it, which is why the two of them do their dance but never commit--they hurt each other too much.

And, as painful as that is for the part of me that loves Mal, it's so true to him and Inara that I can't help but love it. I cannot wait--am already impatient, in fact--for the next bit. Will it tear my heart into pieces, too? Oh, I hope so...

BL #6

[jedibuttercup]

> Amazing. There is no other word for it. You've utterly nailed the humor in the pathos, and now you're plumbing depths of subtext and subterfuge in an economic, tense, tightly-constructed way, and I'm absolutely stunned.

Wow, thank you. Now I'm speechless. =)

> Inara as spy is an interesting read for that character. I haven't decided whether I can reconcile that notion with the woman presented in the series, but you've certainly laid out the argument for it, how the Guild operates, and how Companions comply such that it's a strong case for your explanation. I love Mal flinging back on Serenity Valley when Inara pulls the rug out from under him, and I'm almost afraid of what that will do to him.

Rough times for Mal and Inara for a bit, I think, until they settle into a new dynamic that takes into account this sort-of-spy business. Loving the ship and crew goes a long way in Mal's books, but the trust issue will niggle for a bit.

I really do have more purpose behind it, by the way, than just preventing them from ever having a romantic relationship in this story. To be revealed much later, of course!

> What really impressed me is the handling of Inara in this confrontation. You've gotten her so perfect, I could never imagine it being better. Plenty of times, I've envisioned this confessional scene in my head and never been able to make Inara's side of it work because I cannot get inside her head. You've not only done that but you've put her feelings out of her mouth in the most true sense that it is just mind-boggling. She's strong, doesn't deny her feelings, and doesn't let Mal stick to his prejudices or imagine himself above them. She shoots right through him, tears him down when he thinks he's not given her space for it, which is why the two of them do their dance but never commit--they hurt each other too much.

That was the hardest part of writing this chapter-- getting inside Inara's head. I'm so glad it worked so well. I do admire her as a character, despite the problems I have with the way she interacts with Mal on the show.

> And, as painful as that is for the part of me that loves Mal, it's so true to him and Inara that I can't help but love it. I cannot wait--am already impatient, in fact--for the next bit. Will it tear my heart into pieces, too? Oh, I hope so...

Well, the next chapter's up; I hope it passes scrutiny, too!

[ninamazing.livejournal.com]

GASP. OMGGGG.

Not even I would ever have thought that of Inara, but I completely hate her so it's all very well! :DDDDDD

Also, I really thought it was spelled Yolanda.

He'd conjured she'd been reminded some way of whatever she'd been runnin' from.

YES YES YES YES YES YES. See??!! SEE?!!! You and your insightfulness about canon. Also: you and your using deleted Serenity scenes to create new dialogue for Inara. :D

Love this, love you. You can probably tell my enthusiasm is now through the roof. KEEP WRITING. YOU ROCK.

"A sadder and a wiser man,"

[obsidianagirl.livejournal.com]

That was always the part of the poem that had me in tears and I love the way you brought it all together...please tell me you are still writing on this series...it is so awesome!

Sid