I've SO been wanting Mal to get his ranch. Since I first learned of it's inception, I have to confess, I've been dying for this part of the installment. So what did I like, you might ask? :-D A LOT!
First, let's start with the dance Mal and Inara do as Inara first tries to find out just what on Earth is going on. There is so much finesse involved! I found it fascinating how she was reading him and responding based on her own instincts as well as guidance from Zoe.
Some of it struck me as a little sad at first - that she dared not show weakness or back down, that she had to read him closely to decide the next best course of action... But then I realized that this was instance specific, and really, it was a shame that she didn't trust him enough to be able to handle it, and that she'd been right not to. It probably would have eaten at him, especially at first, when he was still struggling with day to day survival.
Things really didn't start to improve until Avery, and realistically, it was smart of Inara to keep her stash out of the equation until she figured out where they were going first. And yeah, secrets kept that long tend to keep kept. ;-)
There is a lot of imagery that I read into this section - Mal was definitely the spooked horse again, and Inara actively trying to soothe him... There was a symmetry for me ('cause I'm weird) - to Mal's skittish behavior and the life he'd be living on the ranch - in tune to the land and reading the cattle intuitively. It was kind of a primal thing, which I think I'm probably not explaining right, but give me creds for trying... It just struck me how much Mal could be like a force of nature. *sighs*
It struck me as pretty realistic that Mal would see that nest egg as her 'just in case', as well as Inara's reaction by wanting to throttle him for the thought. In a lot of ways, this relationship is still in the early stages, even though they have Alley together.
Poor Inara's got her hands full working through all his excess baggage, of which he has a lot. Add to that his pride, which makes me want to smack him around, too, and there are definitely aspects of their relationship that still need a lot of work. ;-)
That being said, though, I thought you did a fabulous job of showing his coming around to it... How he actively worked through his own emotions, and his own pain, and forced himself to see it through Inara's eyes, instead of just digging his heels in and giving up on it as all around too painful.
It did my heart good to read Inara's joy as she watched Mal come around, and how she marveled at his capacity to still risk - and that he does it for her *sighs romantically*.
It broke my heart, too, to realize he was smart to not want the land in his name... Darn it! *sobs* Very vintage Firefly, there. That even with things going smooth, there's still possibilities that need to be kept in mind. Things that could go horribly wrong.
I liked how you could see it hurt Inara more than Mal to not have his name on the lease. Very appropriate. He's lived a long time with injustice, after all.
And finally, his plan to bring Inara along as a buffer was too cute! The little schemer! :-D I love how he knows he's got some apologizing to do, and isn't above a little practical planning to ease the way. *g*
All in all, this was just lovely, and I thank you both so much for the time, care and energy you put into this. It's definitely appreciated, and does my soppy romantic heart good. Thanks again!
First off, OMG!! Thank-you for such wonderful, in depth feedback! This is amazing! That you took so much effort to leave a reply just blows me away. I can't thank you enough to read about what you liked and your reasons why. It's very rewarding to see so much into what you're getting out of the story. Thank-you!
And second, I'm sorry this reply is so long in coming, but I knew I was going to need a good long time to devote to sitting down and writing it.
First, let's start with the dance Mal and Inara do as Inara first tries to find out just what on Earth is going on. There is so much finesse involved! I found it fascinating how she was reading him and responding based on her own instincts as well as guidance from Zoe.
*blushes* Gosh.... thanks so much and I'm sooo pleased you found this part fascinating. And yes, it was definately instance specific as you say, and still kinda sad, but I think it's very important to portray their marriage as real as we can, so that not Everything is perfect... and as you said, even with Alley together, they're still in the early stages of their relationship, learning how to live together, coexist and compromise, and how they still (and always will) need to work at it. I'm so glad that all came across so well.
It did my heart good to read Inara's joy as she watched Mal come around, and how she marveled at his capacity to still risk - and that he does it for her *sighs romantically*.
Awww :o) I'm so happy all these little pieces came throgh so well, and that you enjoyed them so much...
It broke my heart, too, to realize he was smart to not want the land in his name... Darn it! *sobs* Very vintage Firefly, there. That even with things going smooth, there's still possibilities that need to be kept in mind. Things that could go horribly wrong.
I liked how you could see it hurt Inara more than Mal to not have his name on the lease. Very appropriate. He's lived a long time with injustice, after all.
Hmm yes... I thought that, especially after having kept 'her money' secret from her, she'd very much want it to be crystal clear that this would be 'Their' ranch, together... and that there's the necessity to have it in her name is not the kind of thing she's had to think about so much in the past, and is not a used to that kind of injustice - exactly!
All in all, this was just lovely, and I thank you both so much for the time, care and energy you put into this. It's definitely appreciated, and does my soppy romantic heart good. Thanks again!
What can I say except that comments like yours make it all worthwhile and more. We're both so appreciative of the effort *you've* put in to commenting on this. Sushi!fic is a fun and wonderful place for us to play, and it's just amazing that so many other folk enjoy it so much too, I can only say thank-you again and that I'm beyond pleased to know you enjoyed it so much. Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.
I've SO been wanting Mal to get his ranch. Since I first learned of it's inception, I have to confess, I've been dying for this part of the installment. So what did I like, you might ask? :-D A LOT!
First, let's start with the dance Mal and Inara do as Inara first tries to find out just what on Earth is going on. There is so much finesse involved! I found it fascinating how she was reading him and responding based on her own instincts as well as guidance from Zoe.
Some of it struck me as a little sad at first - that she dared not show weakness or back down, that she had to read him closely to decide the next best course of action... But then I realized that this was instance specific, and really, it was a shame that she didn't trust him enough to be able to handle it, and that she'd been right not to. It probably would have eaten at him, especially at first, when he was still struggling with day to day survival.
Things really didn't start to improve until Avery, and realistically, it was smart of Inara to keep her stash out of the equation until she figured out where they were going first. And yeah, secrets kept that long tend to keep kept. ;-)
There is a lot of imagery that I read into this section - Mal was definitely the spooked horse again, and Inara actively trying to soothe him... There was a symmetry for me ('cause I'm weird) - to Mal's skittish behavior and the life he'd be living on the ranch - in tune to the land and reading the cattle intuitively. It was kind of a primal thing, which I think I'm probably not explaining right, but give me creds for trying... It just struck me how much Mal could be like a force of nature. *sighs*
It struck me as pretty realistic that Mal would see that nest egg as her 'just in case', as well as Inara's reaction by wanting to throttle him for the thought. In a lot of ways, this relationship is still in the early stages, even though they have Alley together.
Poor Inara's got her hands full working through all his excess baggage, of which he has a lot. Add to that his pride, which makes me want to smack him around, too, and there are definitely aspects of their relationship that still need a lot of work. ;-)
That being said, though, I thought you did a fabulous job of showing his coming around to it... How he actively worked through his own emotions, and his own pain, and forced himself to see it through Inara's eyes, instead of just digging his heels in and giving up on it as all around too painful.
It did my heart good to read Inara's joy as she watched Mal come around, and how she marveled at his capacity to still risk - and that he does it for her *sighs romantically*.
It broke my heart, too, to realize he was smart to not want the land in his name... Darn it! *sobs* Very vintage Firefly, there. That even with things going smooth, there's still possibilities that need to be kept in mind. Things that could go horribly wrong.
I liked how you could see it hurt Inara more than Mal to not have his name on the lease. Very appropriate. He's lived a long time with injustice, after all.
And finally, his plan to bring Inara along as a buffer was too cute! The little schemer! :-D I love how he knows he's got some apologizing to do, and isn't above a little practical planning to ease the way. *g*
All in all, this was just lovely, and I thank you both so much for the time, care and energy you put into this. It's definitely appreciated, and does my soppy romantic heart good. Thanks again!
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And second, I'm sorry this reply is so long in coming, but I knew I was going to need a good long time to devote to sitting down and writing it.
First, let's start with the dance Mal and Inara do as Inara first tries to find out just what on Earth is going on. There is so much finesse involved! I found it fascinating how she was reading him and responding based on her own instincts as well as guidance from Zoe.
*blushes* Gosh.... thanks so much and I'm sooo pleased you found this part fascinating. And yes, it was definately instance specific as you say, and still kinda sad, but I think it's very important to portray their marriage as real as we can, so that not Everything is perfect... and as you said, even with Alley together, they're still in the early stages of their relationship, learning how to live together, coexist and compromise, and how they still (and always will) need to work at it. I'm so glad that all came across so well.
It did my heart good to read Inara's joy as she watched Mal come around, and how she marveled at his capacity to still risk - and that he does it for her *sighs romantically*.
Awww :o) I'm so happy all these little pieces came throgh so well, and that you enjoyed them so much...
It broke my heart, too, to realize he was smart to not want the land in his name... Darn it! *sobs* Very vintage Firefly, there. That even with things going smooth, there's still possibilities that need to be kept in mind. Things that could go horribly wrong.
I liked how you could see it hurt Inara more than Mal to not have his name on the lease. Very appropriate. He's lived a long time with injustice, after all.
Hmm yes... I thought that, especially after having kept 'her money' secret from her, she'd very much want it to be crystal clear that this would be 'Their' ranch, together... and that there's the necessity to have it in her name is not the kind of thing she's had to think about so much in the past, and is not a used to that kind of injustice - exactly!
All in all, this was just lovely, and I thank you both so much for the time, care and energy you put into this. It's definitely appreciated, and does my soppy romantic heart good. Thanks again!
What can I say except that comments like yours make it all worthwhile and more. We're both so appreciative of the effort *you've* put in to commenting on this. Sushi!fic is a fun and wonderful place for us to play, and it's just amazing that so many other folk enjoy it so much too, I can only say thank-you again and that I'm beyond pleased to know you enjoyed it so much. Thank-you. Thank-you. Thank-you.
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