jedibuttercup

Ooh, this is a tease, isn't it? Not to slight what's presented here, by any means, but not enough seems to have happened--events actually occurring--to sate my curiosity. Rats rats rats.

Once again, the characters rub off on each other and interact more or less exactly as they ought (which is not to say they act predictably). Zoe's quiet allowance and non-reaction to Mal's revelation about Inara reminds me strongly of "Trash" and her calmness when Saffron makes her heist proposal. It seems to me there's more yet to be resolved between Inara and Zoe, and Zoe isn't likely to ignore this betrayal (though I think she'll work through it better than Mal) so much as add it to the layers of her relationship with Inara. There won't be trust quite the same way again.

Simon and Mal, ::giggles:: Adored it, of course. Mal's implicit acceptance of him and Kaylee being together + brotherly threats on Simon's well being if things don't stay happy = fun.

Book's note to Mal is the real tease here, in that he understands Mal so well that he writes that entry fully expecting Mal not to have thoroughly researched the materials at his disposal but to have gotten impatient and skipped to the end. What, if anything concrete, River knows about the work Book engaged in prior to his time as a Shepherd doesn't come to light, which is a tad disappointing. I think there could have been more to it this time around (instead of ending this chapter only answering the question raised by the last installment--namely, would Inara be allowed to stay?). I do like that you have chosen not to involve Book-as-operative, a popular theory in the fanon for Firefly/Serenity, and I'm curious to see how you incorporate what Book knew and was capable of with the more benign incarnation of the Watchers' Council in BTVS.

So, yeah, history of the Council since leaving Earth-that-was? Puh-lease?