PHAEDRA'S BLOG
My Story is Confusing
Sunday, September 18, 2005 9:17 AM
Ok, so it has come to my attention that my saga is abysmally confusing. (I give I, Claudius a run for its money when it comes to complexity.) This fact is not helped by the additional fact I post roughly every four months.
In form and pacing, this story resembles Deadwood far more closely than it does the pacing of Firefly (i.e. there a lot of dialogue with very little explanation and if you skip an installment things may not make sense). So I thought a little guide might be helpful. If this experiment is successful, then I’ll update this blog with the chapters.
The Pillow Book of Inara Serra: A Readers Guide to Madness
This story takes place a little less than 20 years after the end of the show. Mal and Inara finally got together and even had a child, Serenity. The Second War for Independence breaks out. Unfortunately, Mal loses Inara in the early days of the War. The circumstances leading up to her loss are such that Mal hates her memory and even their child. Mal has been further wounded by the loss of several members of his original crew. Those who survived have been living on Mal’s home planet of Shadow. Tensions tend to run high on the home front.
Mal and his new crew, including Wash and Zoe’s son- Josh, are a special forces unit known as the Suicide Squad. They specialize in “anarchy.” On the other side of the verse, old (Atherton Wing) and new enemies (Ambassador Kali and Chancellor Lang) conspire to crush the Independence and bring victory to the Alliance. As part of their mackintoshes, Shadow has been invaded. The outcome of the war and the lives of those that are trapped in it matter a great deal to several interested parties. They deploy spies and agents to help influence outcomes. This story takes place in the final year of the war with lots of flashbacks.
The series contains strong language, sex, drug/alcohol abuse, violence, adult themes, and permutations there of. If it were an episode, it would incur heavy fines from the FCC. It should not be read by children or those who take offense to the aforesaid subject matter.
Dramatists Personae
Main Characters
Malcolm (Mal) Reynolds- Browncoat, Captain of Serenity, Commander of the Independent Battleship Eumenide, estranged lover of Inara Serra
Inara Serra- Companion, estranged lover of Mal
Serenity (Nitty) Reynolds- teenage daughter of Inara Serra, paternity contested
Kaylee Tam né Frye- Mechanic of Serenity, married to Simon Tam, a yi (auntie) to Serenity Reynolds and Josh Washburn-Warren
Jayne Cobb- Mercenary in love with Kaylee, substitute father of Serenity
River Tam- Disturbed woman, sister of Simon Tam
Matthew (Mat) Summers- Blue Sun Assassin in the employ of Ambassador Kali (mission unknown), son of Amy and William Summers
Crew of Serenity
Zoe Warren- 2nd in command of Serenity, wife of Hobban (Wash) Washburn, mother of Josh Washburn-Warren
Hobban (Wash) Washburn- Pilot, husband of Zoe Warran father of Josh
Simon Tam- Doctor, brother of River Tam, husband of Kaylee Tam
Shepherd Book- Preacher
Alliance
Chancellor Alexandrous Láng (the Wolf)- Leader of the Alliance, CEO of the Blue Sun Corporation, Member of the Hundred Worthy Families
Ambassador Agripina (Pina) Kahli- Agent of the Companion’s Guild, mistress of Chancellor Láng, always shrouded in numerous black veils
General Atherton Wing- Leader of the Alliance forces, Member of the Hundred Worthy Families
Councilor Shan Yu XIV- Member of the Alliance Parliament, Agent of the Companions Guild assigned to befriend and watch Wing
The Guild
Ishtar- Shen Sheng Wu de Mah (Holy Mother of God) Leader of the Guild
Jie (Sister) Shan Li- Second in Command
Mai- Acolyte, assistant, companion, and conscious of Ambassador Kahli
Crew of the Eumenide
Sergeant Joshua (Josh) Washburn-Warren- 2nd in command of Eumenide, son of Zoe and Wash, all around nice guy with his daddy’s penchant for tacky attire and his mama’s knowledge of weaponry
Ching Shi- Pilot, all around smart-ass, the voice of reason on the boat, home planet des
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