Fifth and Final No, Jayne's Song

[ceslas]

Title: Fifth and Final No, Jayne's Song
Series: Finding
Sub-Series: Five Times No
Characters: Jayne/River, Mal, crew
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Post-BDM, five years after Miranda, after Fourth No.
Disclaimer: Firefly owns me, I own words
Notes: Finally!!! It is done, the Five No's are done! For the prompt so kindly, patiently waited for by

Comments

[ceslas]

On one hand, she's the innocent girl, the child rescued from the villian, the victim Kore, dragged into the Underworld. On the other hand, she's the one who knows the most, the keeper of knowledge, the woman not afraid to become a villian to save others from the villian, the dark goddess Persephone to Hades, who understands the price demanded to keep going into and then through the night. Death and rebirth, physical and nonphysical, both sides of the same coin.

YES!!!! Now if I could only figure out how to articulate that as intimately as you just did.

Death and rebirth, physical and nonphysical- this couple speaks to me so vividly and with such life that I feel it in my bones when I listen for them.

Hee, I was hoping you'd reach that out!

You have no idea how huge my grin is right now, none.

That is a good thing I trust! Cause, the Maidenhead fight? Yeah, Jayne in that fight, guh! His total implacable downing of the man by just a blow, no effort, no surprise...guh! And really, who was going to wake up later? The Jayne they know, or thought they knew, or a killing machine who would try to take out them all. Needing a safe word would be the least of their troubles.

I love when writers are able to flesh out the Jayne and Mal connection - it's pretty clear that Jayne is capable of caring and trust - being gentle with Helen in HoG, his connection to the Cobbs in The Message, his big brother connection to Kaylee

Jayne has a good core, but it is hard to write it because he covers it up with so much bluff and bluster most times.

- but he's also not going to just grab up Mal in some big huge hug and say, yay, I got a Captain and I will love him and hug him and call him my Captain!

I thought it was George. lol Agreed, Mal is his employer, the man who hired him on, but then never allowed Jayne to show his worth truly. I get so frustrated at Mal in the pilot being a tool to Jayne about the ear comm. before the shoot out with Patience, and then doing the exact same thing himself with Zoe in the ambulance on Ariel!!! Grrr... I'm standing right here... I want to slap him!

I mean, it's a two way street, and I always squee like a big dork when writers are able to flesh this all out. Our boy's harsh and at times frustrating, but he's not simply a big dumb merc, not by far - and, hee, again, big stupid grin over here!

*Happy dance, Snoopy Dance!!!!* You are so good to me, and I appreciate it like you would not believe. Thank you.

[ever_obsessed]

Heh, I live for Goddess imagery - live for it!

And River is such an image of so many archetypes of Her, it makes my head spin.

I've always loved that Joss gave us Jayne's beatdown of those several unlucky bastards in the Maidenhead fight - he could easily have just had River take him down with a bottle to the head or any one of a thousand moves that wouldn't have had them interact in any level. But he didn't - and not only did we get the Double Grab (Hah! I slay me!), we also got to see Jayne show a bit of his power physically. I firmly believe that if Those FOX Bastards hadn't been the bastards they are (moment of silence for Wonderfalls), we'd have seen a lot more of his fighting abilities - and the fact that Joss has mentioned it several times just makes me feel like I'm right, you know? It pisses me off almost as much as the HOB and how they ended - getting a quick end in the comic and then, like, nothing else.

Because, seriously?

Greatest.Villian.Entrance.Ever.

The pull back at the end of Train Job, and the blue hands, and the guys that were cast? And added to that, how they first mention them, River hunched in the infirmary and mumbling and she knows what she's talking about but she can't say it in a way that the others would understand. I mean, I loved the Operative, I did, but the HOB own my heart - amazing, since they only had, like, what, a tiny scene, and a few scenes in Ariel. The blue coloring and tone in the BDM almost made up for it, but, still, it's the biggest thing I hold against FOX, that we never got to see more the Blue Sun/HOB background history storyline... stuff. I loved the HOB, and wanted so badly to see their story tied up a bit more than, oh, they're private contractors!

Insert
face here, seriously.

You can guess, probably, how excited I get by HOB stories, heh, *slowly sits down again and smooths hands down shirt, trying to look mellow*

That was a tirade, wasn't it?

Ahem, sorry.

I get so frustrated at Mal in the pilot being a tool to Jayne about the ear comm. before the shoot out with Patience, and then doing the exact same thing himself with Zoe in the ambulance on Ariel!!! Grrr... I'm standing right here... I want to slap him!

I've always been fascinated by the Mal and Jayne connection - and while Ariel pisses me off, I was able to use it to prove to my sister that I was right, that he wasn't just a big dumb merc. She was firmly in the big dumb camp merc, but when we were watching Ariel, even she got what I was saying during the ride - how he says what he's supposed to say as his role would dictate, but the tone, the way he says it? Say what you want about the more official learnings, he's not an idiot, especially not when it comes to how people see him - which isn't at all strange. If you can tell how somebody feels about you, you can be ready if they decide to take you out, no? Mal doesn't grasp that, and I think that's such a rich place to explore, you know?

Jayne hasn't survived this freaking long without picking up some very good survival skills.

[ceslas]

and not only did we get the Double Grab (Hah! I slay me!), we also got to see Jayne show a bit of his power physically. I firmly believe that if Those FOX Bastards hadn't been the bastards they are (moment of silence for Wonderfalls), we'd have seen a lot more of his fighting abilities - and the fact that Joss has mentioned it several times just makes me feel like I'm right, you know?

And the clotheslining of the poor bastard at Lilac Station in the opening- I think I Whooped right there in the theater opening night!!! (and a bunch more times >;0) )

Greatest.Villian.Entrance.Ever.

Yup, that deserved special mention.

during the ride - how he says what he's supposed to say as his role would dictate, but the tone, the way he says it? Say what you want about the more official learnings, he's not an idiot, especially not when it comes to how people see him - which isn't at all strange. If you can tell how somebody feels about you, you can be ready if they decide to take you out, no? Mal doesn't grasp that, and I think that's such a rich place to explore, you know?

That's just it, Jayne has actually weathered far more than Mal in many ways and everyone sees the tortured anti-hero in Mal because he lost all he believed in in Serenity Valley, but he has only been living that life for six, six years! Jayne has lived a lifetime before Mal appears. Ignorant maybe, dumb? No way. Jayne knows a cross when it happens- sometimes he still has a bit too much optimism that it won't, which is kind of odd for a man who seems to profess no love for anyone or anything. End of Jaynestown tore my heart out. Such a little boy showing through. So much anguish bottled inside. And Ariel- "Don't tell 'em what I done." OMG *Sniff* yeah, he is a wonderfully hard man to really ever know. I don't think I ever will completely, and that is super!

River... You and Alexis both see such beauty and power in her Goddess features. It ennobles her and energizes me to seek that which is hidden below those depths...