Chronicle - All Quiet on the Western Front - Firefly

[silentpheonix]

I needed a break from A River of Violence so I decided to polish this thing up. I posted a sneak peek back in May but unfortunately, that bit didn't make the final cut. It may still be worth checking out. Thanks to ceslas for beta reading.

Comments make me happy and want to post more fic.

Comments

[vikingprincess]

Okay. I got to the end of the letter home, your prologue, and was already tearing up. Because... because you titled it AQotWF. And because poor Bendis was so damned scared in Serenity Valley. And I almost stopped reading right there because I just knew this would make me really, really, cry. But then I figured you needed to know that, so I hit the comment button, and I'll comment as I go. So this bit was after letter, pre-action, dong ma?

Damn. Of course he didn't want to die there. But since when did war ever care, or the old men who send the young people to do the dying give a flying fuck? Do you remember the solution proposed by one of Paul's friends in AQ? put the world leaders in a boxing ring with big clubs. whoever wins, that's it. war over. much better.

Rambling, yes, so sorry. I particularly liked that this was a moment where Zoe nurtured. And you definitely evoked a very strong feeling, of hope and fear and desperation.

Go, you!

[silentpheonix]

Thank you for commenting. I don't mind at all when people ramble, they just tell me that much more about what's on their mind when they read my stories and as much as I write for myself, ultimately, I'm writing for you.

[ceslas]

I got cold every time I read this, and I still do. Bendis was so the lost boy in Serenity Valley, he had no business being there despite his belief in the rightness of the war.

It made me remember a powerful scene in M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is being consoled by Henry: "There are two things you need to learn about war. First, young men die, second, there is nothing that doctors can do about the first... " Always made me tear up and breath deep... so does this. Well done darlin'.

[silentpheonix]

Thank you, I've always been interested in Bendis, the way he died was just... it was hard the first time I watched it. Then, later, watching it again and knowing about Serenity Valley, it made me wonder. By that scene in the pilot, the Browncoats had been there for weeks, most of the other soldiers seemed inured to the loud explosions, facing death on a daily basis. And then there's Bendis, flipping out. I know we all react differently to such situations but I always wanted to know why he was so very scared.