Where did Mal get the money for Serenity?
POSTED BY: ncbrowncoat
UPDATED: Friday, January 20, 2017 21:40
VIEWED: 24769
PAGE 3 of 8
Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
PhoenixRose replied, in part:Quote:
...You sure we never get to see this fanfic?...
Yeah, unfortunately, I am pretty sure. It's only half-finished at 70-some pages right now, and I haven't added anything to it in going on four months. I'm pitiable, really. This is why I'm not an author. I can't finish anything. "Plans that either come to nought, or half a page of scribbled lines."
Besides, I explore other things -- like how Mal and Zoe became 'entangled' during the war -- that many would probably have a hard time believing or accepting. Briefly, and to wit, Zoe was a samurai trained in the 'Way of the Gun' for the Alliance, when Mal found her, and rescued her from a group of would-be Independent rapists. She was the sole survivor of her unit, and her leader is killed by Mal himself. (NB: I've got the actual Japanese words that mean 'hereditary liege lord', as well as 'way of the gun' in the fic). She sees herself as a ronin, fit only to die, but latches on to Mal as her new 'leader for life', because he has (through sheer luck, as usual) defeated her warrior lord and is a man of honor, an embodiment of her own warrior code.
See? That's gotta go against everyone's grain...
Actually that is an interesting story idea that would not necessarily go against my grain. It certainly fits Zoe's character. However it would go against canon, since she started out a Browncoat in the 57th overlanders platoon and was the only one to survive other than Mal.
Write it anyway if that's what you want to do. Plenty of people do Alternate Universe stories.
http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. - Gautama Siddharta
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Going back to the original question... we don't hear anything about Mal's father, but maybe he left a small legacy for Mal that Mal (and his mother) never touched until after the war, when Mal had nothing left?
Indigo S.
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Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:Quote:
Originally posted by GrayFury:
He worked on his mothers ranch before the war, maybe she passed and he sold it (Before Shadow became uninhabitable) Or maybe the Government made a settlement with the people displaced by the event that undid the Terraforming on Shadow.
it says that the whole world was fried in the war.
That sounds like an event that would screw up the terraforming to me!
"Smellin' alot of IF comin' offa' this plan!"
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PhoenixRose pointed out:
Quote:
...However it would go against canon, since she started out a Browncoat in the 57th overlanders platoon and was the only one to survive other than Mal...
Yeah, and the 57th Overlanders is the unit to which she is assigned when she enlists in the Independent Army in my story, too. Because she must serve under Mal, and no other leader...
I tried really hard to stick to the particulars as I know them. But I ain't psychic, and if I go against Joss' actual secret story (i.e., not revealed in the series or movie), then that can't be helped. But I am a stickler for details. Just, nobody ever said what Zoe did before the war, or how she came to be in the Independent Army, and steadfastly devoted to Mal, even before the Valley of Serenity Valley (witness the interaction between herself, Mal and Tracy at the Battle of Du Khang).
Something deep was going on between Mal and Zoe 'The Warrior Woman' that doesn't make sense from any common sense viewpoint. ... That and the fact that Zoe knew Mal was going to get through to the auxilliary transmitter in the movie. I don't think she was just saying that to make the others feel better, neither. She believes it. It's Mal's way, as Shepherd Book noted, his Tao. The fact that his 'code' and Zoe's fit so well together is not the only reason she follows him, in my version. Added to that, is that Mal was never trained to be samurai; he comes by bushido naturally, through a process of personal enlightenment. That makes him an overwhelmingly powerful force within her worldview...
In any case, Mal is as unlikely a Hero as you'll ever find ("...'cause he beat up Mal? That ain't so hard!"), and yet as canny and luckier than any you'll find. Mal's 'Way'? The Way of the Hero, says I.
...And we all know what the definition of a hero is, right?
Hijackingly,
zoid
P.S.
I went out and purchased The Visual Companion today. In it, Joss says that "unlike Mal", Zoe is "career military". Taking the American Civil War as the model, this would mean that she was an Alliance soldier, since the Independents would not have an army until the War started... Which is pretty cool, because I think it means I may be on the right track after all. And remember, I'm just guessing, based on my aforementioned strict attention to details.
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"I was lucky in the order, but I've always been lucky when it comes to killin' folks." -William 'Bill' Munny, Unforgiven
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It's also possible (going back to the original topic) that Zoe's own money was needed to finance the ship. If she and Mal pooled their finances, it could easily explain the purchase and the crew salaries.
Note how strongly Mal was "selling" Serenity in OoG. Zoe implies that he's the one who paid money for it, but he points out the crew requirements --maybe Mal could afford the ship, but Zoe needs to pay for restoration and a crew, at least until their jobs start paying off.
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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
It's also possible (going back to the original topic) that Zoe's own money was needed to finance the ship. If she and Mal pooled their finances, it could easily explain the purchase and the crew salaries.
Note how strongly Mal was "selling" Serenity in OoG. Zoe implies that he's the one who paid money for it, but he points out the crew requirements --maybe Mal could afford the ship, but Zoe needs to pay for restoration and a crew, at least until their jobs start paying off.
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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
That's a good point Cybersnark. I doubt Mal had enough money by himself to do all the repairs etc before they could even fly her to the first job.
To get the Zoe/Mal thing. The best description of their relationship I've ever seen was a line or two in a fic over at liveejournal, http://community.livejournal.com/mal_inara/86423.html#cutid1
by taramaru. I think this quote from that fic sums up the Mal/Zoe relationship:
"Wash had called it twin-speak, telling her about twins who had their own language. ‘Are you sure you and Mal aren’t twins separated at birth?’ he’d ask, almost seriously. Wash had found their codependency, as he called it, disturbing. He’d make the comment that people never got him and Zöe, and her eyes would meet Mal’s. Ai ya! What would they think about them?"
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Quote:
Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
Wow, zoid that... that... Wow.
You sure we never get to see this fanfic? Because you've got some great theories as to how things went down.
As for the Companions being canon, I believe they are. The "Brief History of the Universe" that I drew from above was written by the man himself, there's an interview with him as well, and all scripts are in their original form, exactly as the writers wrote them. The Firefly Companion doesn't have some of those tasty details, like a history of our BDHs written by Joss, but it has costume details written by the actual costume and prop people, and interviews with the actors, and again the scripts as they were written.
Short answer: Yes.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. - Gautama Siddharta
Yeah, but the only Firefly companian out so far is one of what looks to be a 3 part set, so these details may be one of the later books.
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For every battle honour, a thousand heroes die along, unremembered and unsung...
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Just to play devil's advocate, it is possible that, before the war, there were armies started on each planet. Why? Well, that's a good question. Maybe there were only Alliance soldiers, but that wouldn't make much sense to me.
But I do really like your take on the characters, zoid, and I like your attention to detail. I hope you'll continue to write and one day post some fic!
The Firefly Official Companion that's out is in fact part one of two. I can only think that the next book will be more of the same, as part of the cast seems to be missing from the interviews, and at the end of part one we are promised descriptions of Vera come part two. Plus, of course, there will be the rest of the scripts.
http://www.bigdamnthankyou.com - show Universal your gratitude!
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. - Gautama Siddharta
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C'snark:
So, ummm, yeah! Where did Mal get the money to buy his boat?
First, I don't think it'd necessarily be all that expensive to buy a piece of go se 'hoopdee' that's not even spaceworthy. Now, we all know that Serenity's not a piece of go se (or else we can be educated thus by the back of Kaylee's hand). But when Mal first bought her, the huckster wasn't even trying to sell her. That's how bad off our girl was. My guess is that the guy more or less said, 'If you can haul that eyesore off my lot, she yours'.
After that... Well, we at least know that a perfectly good catalyzer can be found in any Core World junkyard. Probably most of her other spare parts, too, since we know the Firefly-class transport was a mass-produced model in previous decades, that has since fallen from favor and out of production.
I don't think it'd necessarily be all that expensive to get her in the air again. Finding someone willing (or stupid) enough to risk interplanetary travel in her, on the other hand...
Let's just say that it's a good thing Zoe's blindly devoted to Mal, that Wash was google-eyed over Zoe, and that they've all got a mechanic to whom machinery 'talks'. If Serenity is the tenth character, Kaylee is definitely her heart...
But, to obtain even the little bit of money required to purchase and refit Serenity, I'd fancy that Mal and Zoe were equivalent to modern merchant seamen. They'd hire out of one port, sail to the next, then pick up the next available outbound boat; rather than being on a fixed crew. Maybe they shipped once or twice with Monty -- which'd doubtless be fun (in a blurry, headachy sort of way) -- but the remainder of the time with a rogue's gallery of alternating Queegs, Teachs, and Hazelwoods. Spend a couple years doing that, and you'd be lookin' to become the captain of your own ship, too. ...But it'd also explain Mal and Zoe's familiarity with so many different captains when they are discussing hiring their own very first pilot, Hoban 'The Stash' Washburne...
It's a good question, though. It'd be interesting to see an episode dedicated to those years, when Firefly makes its inevitable return to television...
Respectfully,
zoid
P.S.
I really am sorry for totally hijacking the thread before, y'all. But somebody else brought it up, and then somebody else started asking, 'how?', and then the next thing you know... Honest. You'se guys can reread the thread. I was at least the third guy down the depth chart. But I am wordier than is strictly necessary, I know. I'll go back to lurking, now.
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"I aim to misbehave." -Capt. Mal Reynolds, Serenity, a.k.a. 'the BDBOF'
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Personally? I think Mal and Zoe pooled the cash they earned being tramp workers wherever they could find work, whether it be on land or in space. And we have zero clue how much the huckster salesman in "Out of Gas" would have asked for Serenity. For all we know, Serenity was the equilivent of a rusted out Pinto made before Ford fixed those hinky rear bumper mounts (though I would never imply Serenity would explode from just touching her;D)
However, one idea I've had for Mal's background involves him being the son of the couple who owned the biggest cattle ranch on Shadow (with some other mucho grande points better left till I finally get around to writing a fic). Like any good parents, they set aside a nice sum of cash for their pride and joy's education, but it never gets used cuz of certain tragic events and the war coming along. Suddenly, Mal in his mid-20s and a ex-rebel soldier that no Alliance overseen university would accept. So what does he do with his college fund? Buy a decade-old (if the 03 in Serenity's class code denotes her model year) midbulk transport, that's what!
BEB
Literature has shown us some of humanity's greatest achievements; history, some of our greatest failures -- Alun Lewis
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